Any Way The Wind Blows, Doesn't Really Matter
by klemonademouth
Summary: Teddy/James,  Albus/Scorpius ,past Remus/Sirius memory/stories-I can't not put them in. "James was sixteen, and sometime between this Christmas and last he'd hit puberty, because he was the hottest bloke Teddy had ever seen." T for coarse language. SLASH
1. James, September and Epiphanies

**A/N: So, a new story.**

**NO, ZOEY! You're crying. Because I always start stories and it takes me forever to finish them, or I don't at all?**

**WELL. You'll be happy and surprised to learn that _this time (baby, I'll be bulletproof-_sorry about that) I've finished the whole story! Yes, it's already finished. However, if you have any suggestions I can always change up chapters before I post them. It's no problem.**

**I'll try to post chapters 2 times a week, once a week at the least.**

**This is a Teddy/James story. Slightly Al/Scorpius. So please enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not, I repeat, do not, own Harry Potter in any way.**

_**James, 2019, Fourth Year**_

_Oh._

It suddenly felt as if something had just _clicked_ in James' mind, and now he understood everything. He felt as though he'd been hit over the head with a hammer. Lily was staring at him with a look of utter concern on her face.

Well, now he knew why, two years ago, he'd reacted so violently to the sight of his bloody cousin (his blond, perky, pretty, female cousin) snogging Teddy Lupin in the train station. He'd shouted the first thing that came to mind (anything to get them apart, really)- "What're you doing?"

And they'd separated with a nasty popping noise rather like a suction cup breaking seal with a wet surface, and Teddy had told him he was "seeing her off" (_seeing her off, my arse,_ James thought darkly), and then he'd told James to go away and resumed his previous activity.

James had kicked quite a few things on his way over to his parents, so he could rat them out.

Of course, he should have known that they'd be _absolutely delighted_ that Teddy Lupin was snogging Victoire Weasley, the bloody traitors.

Well.

And he knocked his forehead against the window.

He'd be fifteen in eleven days, and Teddy was twenty and so most definitely too old for him.

But still-

No, James told his head, firmly. Shut up and stop thinking like that.

He knocked his head again.

How in the hell could he feel that way about a bloke who'd read him bedtime stories, who'd played pick-up Quidditch with him, who'd helped _potty-train_ him, for Merlin's sake?

Lily nudged him. "Knut for your thoughts."

She was insufferably annoying, even for a first year, and James had the strangest urge to go find Al, who was at least close to his own age.

Friends, right. He had those.

He slid the compartment door open, avoiding her gaze. Lily happened to have the best puppy-dog eyes, and they'd always worked on her older brothers. "Go make friends with some other ickle firsties," he said hurriedly to her, without turning around. "Maybe they'll be in the same house as you." then he quickly slammed the door and made his getaway before she could follow him.

He tripped, panting, into his friends' compartment.

Fred, Lorcan, Lysander, and Miles looked up.

"Oi," Fred said, helping him up, "I was beginning to wonder where you'd got off to, mate."

Lorcan grinned. "Sander and I were placing bets, you see. I had three galleons on you snogging that Irish bird what eyed you up all last year."

James forced a smile. "Sorry, mate. You're out of luck. I was trying to coax Lily to get out of her compartment and talk to some other first years. Eventually I just ditched her."

Miles clicked his tongue. "And to think, you could have been having it on with some bird."

His mind tripped into a heady whirl. Lorcan, Lysander, and Miles were all good looking. And they weren't related to him, and they were his _age_.

So why not one of them? Why Teddy?

"What's got your broomstick in a knot?" asked Lysander, sitting back down in a seat.

"Nothing. Just thinking about being fourth years."

Identical grins split both Lorcan and Lysander's faces, and Miles rubbed his hands together. "Right. Well, Fred and I have these ideas. We thought we could give Hogsmeade a scare- haunt the Shrieking Shack again. Do you think Teddy could get us in? Him being Remus Lupin's son and all..."

At the mention of Teddy's name, James jumped and stared at the two of them.

"Merlin's pants, James, what IS it with you?"

"Nothing!" James squeaked. "Nothing."

"You're acting like you just robbed Gringotts!" Lorcan and Fred exchanged a grin. "So, did you?"

"Leave it, Lorcan," James said, folding his arms. At the moment, he couldn't for the life of him remember why the other four boys were his best friends, other than the fact that one of them was related to him and the twins were as close to related as they could be without actually being family.

He tuned out while the other boys, sensing tension, filled each other in on the summer shenanigans he'd missed while fooling around all summer with Al, Rose, Fred, and... Teddy.

His heart fluttered as the shock of turquoise hair, the earring, the warm brown eyes- all floated through his mind.

He closed his eyes, and resigned himself to a particularly long fall semester while waiting for the winter holiday.


	2. Teddy, December and Unexpected Surprises

_**A/N: Now here is a skip forward, more than an entire year later. Whereas last year, James was a fourth year, he is now a fifth year, and it is Christmas Break. We will be staying in this year for a while- the last chapter was just sort of an introduction. There isn't much more skippage, and if there is it's by a few months, not years.**_

_**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Harry Potter, the fabulous J.K. Rowling does. **_

_**Please enjoy!**_

_**Teddy, 2020, James' fifth year**_

Holidays at the Potter's were always chaotic.

First, Ginny Potter had just burned the Christmas Ham (which happened every year) and was now currently sitting against the stove, crying into her apron (which also happened every year). Albus had just lit his second Christmas tree on fire, and Lily was using the all the hustle and bustle to cover up the fact that she was digging through everything in the attic, trying to find her Christmas presents.

Harry Potter was trying to nail in a sprig of mistletoe (Ginny had gone spare when he'd attempted using his wand, and now his best pair of robes was cast in the corner, with one or two bat-bogeys still attacking it), and had just succeeded in nailing his thumb instead. He was letting out an impressive string of curse words that had Albus rolling on the floor cackling, when the doorbell rang.

Nursing his injured thumb, Harry answered the door.

Teddy Lupin was standing there, his nose bright pink with cold, hands shoved in his pockets.

"'Lo, Teddy." Harry grinned.

Teddy grinned back. "Nail your thumb again, Harry?"

Harry grimaced. "Ginny's mad as a hatter around this time of year. Won't let any of us do magic."

Teddy nodded knowingly. "And which number Christmas tree is Albus on?"

There was a sudden whoosh of flames and a shout from the living room, then the sound of water spraying wallpaper. Smoke crept round the doorframe.

"That'd be number three," Harry groaned. "I think James is digging through the fossil pit he calls his room, so if you'd rather-"

Teddy saluted him. "Say no more. I'll be up there if you need me."

Harry smiled as Teddy vanished up the stairs.

Teddy twisted the knob to James' bedroom, as he'd done so many times before, and pushed the door open.

_Fuck_, was his first thought.

Teddy had known for a long time that he batted for both teams, but he'd never held any sort of attraction for anyone in the Potter-Weasley clan, including Victoire. The two had snogged before her seventh year at Hogwarts, but they'd mutually agreed that it was awkward and left it at that.

But _fuck._

Teddy hadn't seen James or any of the younger Potters since last Christmas, having been abroad the entire summer holiday. Last Christmas, James had still been just a gangly fifteen-year-old with pointy elbows and big feet and a dorky smile.

Now, James was sixteen, and sometime between this Christmas and last he'd hit puberty, because he was the hottest bloke Teddy had ever seen.

Teddy gulped audibly, then tried to smile as James turned.

His eyes lit up. "Teddy!" and then he tackled the older boy in a hug.

James looked _so incredibly _like Harry- the shaggy black hair, the thin stature- but something was different about James. While Harry's appearance was comforting, fatherly, James was just fucking hot, even in the Hogwarts uniform he was _still _wearing. The sweater that Teddy had always found lumpy and unattractive on the majority of Hogwarts girls somehow clung to James' body, and the trouser legs left just enough room for imagination.

Teddy exhaled uncomfortably, then moved to sit on James' bed, trying not to notice how it smelled of him, and how at some point, very recently, James' scent had changed from the smell of a kid to that of a man.

"So, what's with the uniform?" He asked, trying to keep up a mantra in his head that went something like this: _he's underage, he's sixteen, I'm five years older, he's my __**god brother**__..._

It didn't seem to be working.

James grinned, and Teddy's stomach did something funny.

"I literally got back from Hogwarts an hour ago," he said. His voice had changed sometime in the past year, too, and it was now a deep bass, like his father's- rather than the pitchy squeak of an adolescent just beginning to go through puberty. "I've been unpacking ever since."

Unexpectedly, he tackled Teddy in another bear hug. "_Blimey,_ I've missed you. Where have you been since last Christmas?"

"The life of an Auror never rests," Teddy replied, chucking a rose that smelt of rotten eggs at him (probably from Ron and George's shop).

James snorted, dodging the prank item easily. "Right, that. Dad reckons you lot have gone soft since Voldemort died."

"Well, I'd _reckon_ any job looks soft to a man who killed the darkest wizard of all time," Teddy quipped, lying down on James' bed. "But you know, we don't see much action."

James waggled his eyebrows at Teddy, and he had to force himself not to blush. "By all means, don't let my presence interrupt. Continue- cleaning, is that what you're doing?"

James scowled. "Shut it, you arse-hole."

"I'm sorry," Teddy said, enjoying himself, "but I'm not seeing much progress. Perhaps you'd have better success if you just conjured a black hole."

"You wanker," James said, but he was laughing as he returned to the task at hand.

After a few minutes of watching that lovely (_underage!_) arse bending over to pick things up, Teddy couldn't take it any more. He spoke up. "How's Quidditch?"

He was rewarded with a blinding Potter-grin (Ginny and Harry both had it, and so all of their kids had inherited it), and the bed springs creaked as James climbed up beside him.

"Brilliant, mate, I was made Captain this year because Jesse left. Me!"

"Knew you would," Teddy said, throwing an arm around the younger boy, and James positively beamed.

"So, Prefect, Quidditch Captain- what're the chances of being Head Boy in two years?"

"Pretty good, I'd reckon," James said, jumping back off the bed. "You'd best get up, mum's about to call dinner in about four seconds."

"What? How do you-" but Teddy was interrupted by Mrs. Potter's call of "_dinner!_"

"Trade secret," James said, winking.

Teddy tried to ignore how undeniably sexy that was and threw his hands up in the air. "I give up, you're psychic."

"Sit next to me at dinner?" James asked.

"Of course. I want to know all about your fifth year. Damn, I miss Hogwarts."

True to his word, Teddy listened all throughout the Potter's Christmas Eve dinner to James describing the stunts that he and his faithful gang of miscreants- Fred Weasley, Miles Finch-Fletchley, and Lorcan and Lysander Scamander- pulled, usually resulting in some equally hilarious form of detention.

"She said we were nearly as bad as James, Remus, and Sirius," James said, puffing out his chest with pride.

Harry wagged his fork at him. "I don't know that I'd be proud of that, you arrogant little bugger. My father was right conceited when he was in fifth year- if he hadn't reduced the size of his head, he'd never have finally gotten my mother."

"That's better than you," Ginny retorted. "You didn't even notice me until I stopped chasing after you and started dating every boy in your year except for you."

Harry blushed as James, Al, Lily, and Teddy guffawed.

"Well, I think it's high praise," Teddy said, affectionately rumpling James' hair.

Ginny lifted her wine glass with a slight smile on her face. "The highest."

It was after dinner, and James and Teddy had retreated to the sitting room. Both were crammed into the squashy old red leather armchair, their legs tangled together. Al was laying across the rug in front of the fire, chatting quietly with Scorpius Malfoy through the flames. Lily was sprawled across the whole couch, her wand stuck behind her ear, thumbing through the week's copy of _The Quibbler_.

Teddy was highly aware of Harry and Ginny's eyes on them from the kitchen doorway, but he didn't turn.

"You mentioned something about a crab before?" he said, and James launched into another story.

Ginny leaned her head against Harry. "You know, I used to think that James' fascination with Teddy would fade, that it was just hero-worship. But I think Teddy's really his best friend."

"And I think he's Teddy's as well," Harry said, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Ginny said, fondly. "That the age difference doesn't seem to matter to them. Teddy doesn't talk down to James, and James doesn't treat Teddy like a god because he's older. They're equals."

They watched as Teddy's shoulders shook with laughter at something James said.

"I'm glad they have each other," Ginny said, and Harry agreed.


	3. James, Brotherly Confessions and Swears

_**James, 2020, Fifth Year**_

__Fuck. No, seriously, bloody fuck.

Dad invited Teddy over to spend the night, and he agreed, and he would be spending it in JAMES' room.

_Fuck._

James ran his hands through his hair.

At dinner, he'd at least been able to pretend that everything was normal- especially with his mom, dad, sister, and brother all around him. At least he'd been able to pretend that everything was okay.

His bedroom door snicked open and James whirled around, wild-eyed, praying that it wasn't Teddy.

It wasn't. It was Al. He sat on James' desk chair. "Can we talk for a minute?"

If James had been paying any attention at all to his brother, he would have noticed the way that Al's eyes flickered anxiously, or the way he was bouncing on the hard wooden chair. But James wasn't paying attention. He resumed pacing.

"Er, Al, can't it wait? I'm a little-"

"I'm gay," Al blurted out. Then his eyes widened as James spun around, his heart in his throat.

"That wasn't exactly how I planned to tell you," Al said, his eyes downcast.

James was staring at his brother. "You're... you're _what?_" he stammered out.

"Gay," replied Albus in a very small voice.

James ran his hands through his hair. "You're... sure?"

Al nodded. "Quite sure."

"How?"

"Well, the week before Holidays a completely naked Amandine Thomas accosted me in my completely _empty_ dorm room, offering me no-strings sex, and I shoved her off so I could go find Scorpius to work on our holiday homework."

For a moment, James could only gape like a fish. "B-but Scorpius, he's-"

"Dating Rose, yes, I know. I'm very aware of that, thank you very much."

"Well, I suppose the Potter line stops here," James mused.

Albus looked non-plussed. "What are you on about, James?"

James rolled his eyes. For the supposedly smartest one in the family, Al could sometimes be incredibly dense.

"I'm gay, you dolt."

Al's eyes widened, then he looked at his older brother with something akin to hero-worship in his eyes. "How did you know?" he whispered, standing up.

James sank down on the bed. "I found out last year, actually. On the train ride to school, in September."

"You _were _acting funny at the feast," Al said, grinning. "You were this nasty shade of green and you kept jumping whenever anyone said your name, remember?"

"Well, it wasn't as if I was very pleased with my little discovery," James said, smiling a little. "I didn't have you to confide in."

"Why not?" Al demanded.

"Well- you're my little brother. I didn't want to give you any reason- didn't want to-" he couldn't seem to find the right words. He'd never been good at speaking. He supposed he got that from his father, who'd stumble over his words whenever he'd have to give some sort of savior speech to the greater wizarding population.

He was surprised to hear Albus laugh, and looked up.

Al sat on the bed, fixing his eyes on the older boy. "You're my big brother," he said. "Did you honestly think that anything you did or said- much less who you _love_- could make me love you any less?" he chuckled, then added as an after-thought- "besides, knowing that about you might have helped _me_."

James just looked at his brother for a moment, then he suddenly grinned. "You're such a poof, Al."

"Hey, I _am _a poof, and proud of it," Al said in defense. "Let me be poncey if I want to."

James wrapped an arm around his younger brother, and they sat in silence for a moment.

"So who was it?" Al suddenly asked.

"Who was what?" James asked, confused.

"The boy, the one who made you realize on the train. The one who turned your face green and made you all jumpy. Who was he?"

"Oh, right." James was quiet for a minute, trying to decide whether he should tell Albus. "Uh, nobody in particular."

"Was it Miles? Lorcan? Lysander?" Al persisted.

"I said nobody in particular, Al, now leave it," James said, a little irritably.

Albus' face twisted.

"What?" James snapped.

"I- it wasn't... Fred, was it?" Al whispered.

James huffed out a breath. "No."

"It was, wasn't it?" Albus said, horrified. "You fancy our cousin! Oh, Merlin, James-"

"Albus Severus, I can promise you that I _don't fancy Fred_."

A pause.

"Oh. Okay." Al looked mollified. He knew his brother well enough to know when he was lying and when he was being absolutely truthful. "Well, then, who was it?"

"Nobody, Al, okay?" he made up a story on the spot. "When I was talking to Rose at one point on the train, before she went to find you and Scorpius-" he subconsciously noticed the way Al twitched when James said Scorpius' name-"she said something offhand about a bloke walking past, something about how nice his shoulders were, and in my head, I agreed."

There. That was vague enough. He actually had talked to Rose briefly on the train before finding Lily and pulling her into a compartment, and Rose wouldn't remember all the unimportant details of the conversation- but she would remember talking to him.

Unfortunately, Albus was his brother, and Albus knew when James was lying to him. But, being a somewhat understanding brother, he decided to let it slide. Whoever it was, James clearly wasn't comfortable telling Al yet. He was still betting on Miles.

A knock sounded on the door. Al sprung up. "That's probably Teddy- he's staying the night in your room, isn't he?"

"Right," James said, as normally as possible, trying to ignore the twist in his gut.

Al opened the door and grinned cheerfully. "Hey, Tedder-o. I was just on my way out. See you in the morning, James." he quickly shut the door behind him.


	4. Teddy, Spending the Night and Christmas

**A/N: I just spent Sunday-Thursday at a running camp.**

**Doesn't that just sound like a blast?**

**My friend Maddie and I stayed in a dorm room where the walls were like paper, and there was some legitimately kinky stuff going on in the room next door.**

**And there was a boy there with absolutely perfect cheekbones. Almost like a 17-year-old Scorpius Malfoy. I named him Tristan. He looked like a Tristan to me.**

**Oh, and there was this bloody creepy guy right outside our dorm room at 12:30 am this morning. He calls himself the Sun God and walks around campus in a sun mask and plays really creepy music, and probably rapes people. Mads and I called security.**

**So, here it is, folks! Chapter four.**

_**Teddy, 2020, James' Fifth Year**_

Teddy looked closely at both Al and James, but could see no sign of any sort of conversation- other than something frivolous- occurring inside the bedroom. He was still curious, however- he couldn't remember the last time Al and James had done any sort of sibling bonding. Although, he hadn't been to the Potter's in a year. Perhaps James and Albus now had talks every night in James' room. He doubted it somehow, though.

He looked at James, but James merely looked irritated as he watched the door close.

A thought struck him. "You don't mind that I'm staying over, do you?"

James looked at him in horror, all the tension draining from his face. "Of course not, Teddy. We have catching up to do." He flopped down on his bed (the springs creaked- Teddy tried hard not to think of what else they could be doing to make the springs creak).

Teddy pointed his wand at the mass of jumbled bedding and muttered "erecto!" Immediately, everything sort of assembled itself into a rickety sort of bed.

James snorted, as if trying to hold back laughter.

Teddy looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, come on. How can you say that spell without even so much as _grinning_?"

Teddy felt himself turning red. "Well-I-" he spluttered.

James laughed, which didn't exactly help his red face. James had a very nice laugh, strong and deep. It warmed Teddy right down to the cockles of his... heart.

_Oh bugger,_ Teddy thought, _I'm fucked._

James sighed, and leaned back on his bed. Teddy watched him, a feeling of primal want constricting his chest.

"So," he said, conversationally. James' head rolled towards the noise, his eyes still closed. "Do you and Albus often have heart-to-hearts now?" Teddy asked, and James' eyes shot open. He sat upright.

"You didn't hear any of it, did you?"

Teddy shook his head.

James sighed in relief. Teddy tried not to feel a little stung that James so clearly didn't want Teddy in on what had gone on behind that closed door. "I was just, I suppose, wondering why you and Albus were hanging out in your room."

"Conspiring against you." James grinned wickedly. "Sleep with one eye open and drink from only your own hip flask from now on."

Teddy laughed, but he couldn't rid himself of the gnawing feeling that James was hiding something from him.

"So," Teddy said, settling comfortably into his covers, "I've heard all about you, but what have the rest of your family been getting up to?"

"Dad and Mum both just got their chocolate frog cards updated, by request of the manufacturer. They still won't take 'the-boy-who-lived' off Dad's." James chuckled. "Lily's been doing really well in school, actually- top in her class. Aunt Hermione's really proud. Al is the best Chaser Hogwarts has seen since Mum left the school. And Rose is dating Scorpius Malfoy. Hugo is still a whiny little brat."

Teddy grinned.

"Victoire is still in France, which I'm sure you know, and Dominique is in her first year at Hogwarts- Ravenclaw. Luis is a damn good chaser, too, just nothing like Al. Molly and Lucy are still to young to be at Hogwarts." James took a breath. "Oh, and Fred's become an apprentice at his dad's shop and Roxanne is slowly dating her way through Hogwarts."

Teddy laughed. "Much like your second namesake."

"Don't you ever wish you could have met the Marauders?" James asked, realizing a split second too late that it was the wrong thing to have asked. He turned embarrassed eyes downwards.

Teddy smiled. "Of course I wish I could meet my father, but I would like to meet your granddad and your dad's godfather. That would be nice, I think."

James lifted his head. "So you're not-"

"-mad at your tactlessness? No." Teddy leaned over to ruffle James' hair. "James, your dad has been the next best thing to a father to me, like Sirius Black ought to have been to him. If all had gone _right_ in the first war, Sirius would have been hailed as a hero, just like your dad. But it didn't, and he wasn't." Teddy rubbed his hand over his face, trying to figure out what next to say. "Your dad was there for me, to tell me about my dad and the things he'd said, the things he'd done."

"I'm glad my dad was there for you," James said, "but I'm still a tactless prat."

"A bit, yeah," Teddy said, and they both laughed.

There was a pause.

"I'm glad you're here, Teddy," James said, and Teddy felt his heart swell.


	5. James, February and Quidditch Matches

**A/N: This is honestly just mostly a filler chapter, so I'll try to get Chapter 6 up within the next 2 days, because that's where it gets interesting. My computer somehow lost my chapters after 7, so I've just re-written the 8th chapter and the second-to-last chapter, and I'm halfway through the last chapter. It looks like right now we're looking at 11-13 chapters (probably more like 12), so I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, in any way. **

_**James, February 2020 **_

"Right, men." James marched back and forth purposefully in front of his team. Al and Lily nudged each other and grinned.

"I want all of you to do your best today. Play it rough, play it hard. Lily-" he addressed his sister. "_Be_ that bloody snitch. Do _not_, under any circumstances, let Scorpius catch it. Chasers, you _chase,_" he said, as if that wasn't obvious. He looked at Roxanne, Luis, and Al. "Use those passing techniques. You need to become _one_. You need to become a _family_."

"James, we _are_ all a family," Al pointed out. James ignored him.

"Beaters-" Rose and Fred straightened up. "Be _ruthless_," he whispered, and Rose grinned her catlike grin.

"And you, Mr. Captain," Albus said, sharing a snarky grin with Rose. "What will you do?"

"I," he paused significantly, "shall _keep_."

Lily whooped a little.

"Now." their Captain lowered his voice down to a whisper. "Let's go out there and kick. their. bloody. ARSES!"

On the last word, the rest of his team exploded in cheers and whistles as James led them out of the locker rooms.

It was a beautiful, cold day- perfect for a Quidditch game.

"Warming charm, blokes," James said, blowing on his fingers. "And ladies," he added quickly as Rose, Lily, and Roxanne glared at him.

He looked up, scanning the crowd. Good turnout for this match. Professor McGonagall had even come, and she waved at him. She knew James pretty well- he spent a fair amount of time in her office.

Charlie, the Care of Magical Creatures stand-in professor, was sitting next to her. And next to him-

James felt his heart jolt as he recognized that tousled turquoise hair.

_What the bloody hell was Teddy doing here?_

Teddy waved at him, beaming. James kicked off on his broom, flying up to the stands.

"Teddy!" he yelled, when he got close enough. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd come to the match," Teddy yelled back, "See my favorite god-siblings play a fierce game of Quidditch. Think I might even root for Gryffindor this time around."

"Prat," James yelled back, the wind howling against his warming charm. "That all you're here for?"

"That, and Minerva offered me the post of Potions master. That game?" Teddy shouted.

A grin threatened to split James' face. "That's_ brilliant_, Teddy! Congratulations!"

Teddy grinned back. "Good luck, Captain!"

James drifted back to the ground, his mind abuzz. Teddy was at their Quidditch game. Teddy was going to teach Potions. He was going to teach _him_ Potions.

James smiled to himself, a stupid grin, he was sure of it.

Rose noticed. "Oi, snap out of it, you stupid bugger," she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "We can't afford to lose this game, partly because I won't be able to face Scorpius for a month if we do, and partly because I've a bet going with Charlie."

James laughed. "Don't worry, not a goal gets past me, and Lily won't let anyone but her catch the snitch."

"We'll see about that, Potter," said a feigned-arrogant voice from behind them, and Rose spun around, beaming.

"Scorpius," she said, instantly fixing her features into a scowl.

He scowled back. "A kiss for good luck?"

"You wish." she said, flicking her hair. "I'll offer you a deal, though."

James noticed Albus watching, and felt horrible.

"Oh?" Scorpius raised one eyebrow, his trademark expression. "And what's that?"

"A kiss for you if you win..." Rose stepped a little closer, and used her thumb to stroke Scorpius' cheek, "and a kiss for me if I win."

"Sounds like torture," Scorpius said, his lips very close to Rose's.

"It is." Rose said, spinning away at the last second, and cheekily flouncing over to Al.

Scorpius followed, and James watched Al flinch as Scorpius flung an arm around him. He winced for his brother.

The game went startlingly well. Gryffindor beat Slytherin, 240 to 0. Lily caught the snitch from right under Scorpius' nose. James didn't let a single goal in the whole game- partially because during every particularly difficult save, he'd caught sight of that unique turquoise hair out of the corner of his eye, and always managed to save the snitch.

It somehow didn't bother James that he'd caught Albus giving him the most suspicious of looks.

Rose and Scorpius disappeared together sometime after Teddy had sprinted down from the stands and flung himself at James and Albus, yelling something that sounded like _"bloody brilliant!"_ (entirely inappropriate for a professor, of course).

James watched his brother's eyes follow Scorpius and Rose's retreating backs, and was thankful at least that they weren't snogging in front of Al. Although maybe this was worse.

"I'm fine," Al said, answering James' unspoken question. "Honestly, I am." He lowered his voice, flicking his eyes at Teddy and Lily, who were standing nearby. "It's you I need to talk to."

And with that, Al walked away, his arm around their sister, leaving James with a dreadful sense of foreboding.

**A/N: don't forget to REVIEW and I'll update faster! Even if it's just to say that it doesn't totally suck. **

**and here's a smidgen of the next chapter, just to leave you wondering. **

_** James clenched his (non-manly, non-sexy) jaw. "Everything's fine," he said, through gritted teeth. **_

_** Teddy raised his eyebrows.**_

_** "Okay," James admitted. "Everything's not fine. But it's Albus' deal, and I can't talk about it, alright?" **_


	6. Teddy, Letters to Harry and Rejections

**A/N: to my fabulous readers: thank you for reviewing. This story is longer than I thought. Right now I'm leaning towards maybe 13 or 14 chapters. **

**Oddly enough, I realized that I'd written "2020" just as I clicked "reviews" on my stats page, and then I saw the review from Soapiefan, and I was like... "whoa..." it was just weird, in my opinion. **

**Any of you ever seen the movie Stardust? It's quickly becoming one of my favorite movies in the world. It's just so magical. And cute. Don't forget cute. I'm in love with Tristan Thorn. **

**Disclaimer: I WILL NEVER OWN HARRY POTTER. OKAY?**

_**Teddy, February 2021**_

He had wondered what James would do when he told him he was going to be his professor. He could never predict James' moods. He never knew what was going to set him off and what would make him glow with happiness. James was a mystery to him- like every girl had been during school. The only key difference being that James was most certainly not a girl (Teddy had noticed). He'd wondered if Teddy would be excited, or put out that he had yet another one of his father's "eyes" watching his back.

But when he'd yelled through the wind at the Quidditch match that he would be James' new Potions professor, there had been nothing but pure joy on his face, the same joy that had been there when James had greeted him with a hug at his bedroom door during Christmas two months ago.

_ Dear Harry,_

He wrote.

_ James is doing fine. He actually seemed rather enthusiastic about my teaching here, but that might dim when he realizes that we can't act like old pals here like we can at home. He may be my best mate (family or no-all technicalities aside), but there are those old teacher-student boundaries ingrained in my mind. Must have inherited that line of thought from my dad._

_ Anyway, they won the match against Gryffindor today, 240 to 0. James made some truly spectacular saves, Harry, he really did. Ron would be proud. Lily nabbed the snitch right from under that Malfoy boy's nose, and Albus- well, James wasn't exaggerating when he said he was the best Chaser Hogwarts has seen since Ginny. He scored 7 out of the 9 goals Gryffindor made. _

_ You should be proud of all your kids, Harry. They're great. Really great. _

_ Anyway, I've got to go. Seems everyone's heading outside for some sort of House celebration and I'd really like to participate, for old time's sake, before I really have to start acting like a teacher._

_ Give my love to Ginny, _

_ Teddy_

James was standing ahead of him, his head bent together with Albus. After a few minutes of Teddy wondering what they were talking about- was this another one of their heart-to-hearts?- the conversation began to get more heated. Al was gesturing wildly, his face screwed up in an expression of disgust. James seemed to be equally as angry, but he was pleading with his brother. He gripped Al's shoulder, and his face fell as Albus shook it off and stormed away.

James stood alone for a moment, then slowly turned around to head back to Teddy, his head hanging heavy. Teddy patted the stone bench next to him, a spot just outside the doors to the great hall.

The stars glittered in the sky, and their breath puffed in frosty air.

"Is everything okay?" Teddy asked, concerned. James and Albus had their brotherly spats, of course- Teddy vividly remembered one year, when James was about five, and Albus had accidentally turned James' toy Hogwarts Express into a scary rubber doll, that spoke with a nasally voice and tried to strangle Lily when she got too close- but he'd never seen either of them this angry with each other. Something had happened between the two boys.

James clenched his (_non_-manly, _non_-sexy) jaw. "Everything's fine," he said, through gritted teeth.

Teddy raised his eyebrows.

"Okay," James admitted. "Everything's not fine. But it's Albus' deal, and I can't talk about it, alright?"

"Understood," Teddy said, simply. He knew James was lying. He also knew James would never admit to lying, not if Teddy pressed him for details. This argument was quite clearly one between brothers, and had nothing to do with him.

Oh, how wrong he was.

"So, can we talk about something else?" James asked. "Anything else."

Teddy smiled slightly. "I have something. I never got to ask you- how do you feel about me teaching here?"

Almost immediately, James' face relaxed and he grinned at Teddy. "I think it's brilliant. Really. As long as Professor _McGoogley_ understands that I want to spend time with you. Outside of class."

"No inappropriate student-teacher relationships," Teddy admonished, trying to keep his stomach from squirming uncomfortably.

"Teddy, I'm surprised at you!" James pretended to whack his arm like a girl. "You know I'm not that type of girl!" He winked.

Teddy turned his face away, feeling his neck turning red. He'd been told by Harry that he'd gotten that from his dad.

"Teddy?" James touched the back of his neck. "How on earth did you get a sunburn? It's winter!"

Teddy didn't even want to think about telling James that it wasn't a sunburn. "The sunlight reflects off the snow."

Instead of taking his hand away from Teddy's neck, Teddy felt James' fingers slip under his collar, lightly caressing his neck.

Teddy froze. He turned only his head to look at James. James' face was far too close, and the look in his eyes was something Teddy had never seen on him before. The eyes were an odd shade of golden hazel, and from this close, Teddy could see the dark stubble sprinkled across James' square jaw.

Teddy's breath caught, and his heart felt like it was expanding in his chest. His hand moved up (_of its own accord!_) to brush his thumb against James' cheek. James' breath fanned out across Teddy's fingers.

"Teddy," James murmured.

That was all it took for Teddy to snap out of it. He wrenched his hand away from James, and moved as far away from him as he could, as quickly as he could. He slid off the bench and stood up.

"I'm your teacher, James," he said firmly, trying to ignore the look of extreme hurt in James' eyes. "I'm twenty-one, I'm your teacher, and I'm your godbrother. I'm five years older than you."

James' eyes darkened. "You forgot one thing that you're supposed to add onto that list." He stood up, a few inches taller than Teddy, and adopted a mocking tone that was apparently supposed to sound like Teddy. "'I'm not a fucking queer, James, so keep your faggot hands off of me.'" He stormed away.

_Oh, bugger. _

**A/N: as always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!**


	7. James, Brotherly Arguments and Parties

**A/N: and here's the brotherly argument, in case it was tearing your mind apart to know (lol). I went to see a Beatles Tribute Concert last night. It was amazing. Really. Say you don't like the Beatles, and I'll kill you.**

**(I'm a slight fan girl). Yoko Ono is stupid.**

**Okay, well, enough of that! Back to James and Teddy, what you all really want to read about. **

**Lollipops and Roxas OH MY: yes, the last thing was something James did say. And oh, I know. Boys can be so stupid.**

**Thank you for 25 reviews for the first six chapters! The story is 14 chapters including the epilogue. This time it's legit. **

**I just wrote 2 new oneshots- one is TeddyxJames, one is SiriusxRemus, so check them out please! They're called "Of Sugarbowls and Paintings" (the TeddyxJames one) and "The Omen of the Glowing Textbook" (SiriusxRemus)**

**Everyone, thank you SO MUCH for your positive feedback!**

**Disclaimer: Ihay oday otnay ownhay Arryhay Otterpay. **

_**James, February 2021**_

"We need to talk."

It was warm outside, for February in Scotland. All of Gryffindor house was outside, celebrating their victory under the stars. Until moments ago, James had been participating in a particularly intense snowball fight, until Albus had dragged him away. Despite his protests, Albus deposited him on a stretch of raised stone between two pillars.

"About what?" James asked, trying to feign innocence despite the feeling of fear blossoming in his stomach. The look on Albus' face... it was clear that his brother was furious.

"About you," Albus said, through gritted teeth, "and Teddy."

_Play dumb._ "What-"

"Don't you pull that charade, James, I'm your brother, I know you better." Albus' eyes were furious. "What the hell do you think you're pulling here?"

Now James really was confused. "Al, what are you talking about?"

"_Teddy_, James? _Teddy?_ How could you?"

"How could I what?" James asked, bewildered. He had no idea why Albus was reacting the way he was. "What's your problem?"

"What's my _problem_?" Albus said, barely managing to keep his voice down. "Teddy's practically our cousin, James! He's Dad's godson! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it fucking does!" James whispered heatedly. "Don't you think I've been grappling with that myself? Teddy's my best friend, he's been my best friend for ages! Do you think I want to feel this way about him? Of course I don't!"

"Then stop it," Albus said, through gritted teeth.

James laughed derisively. "I can't, Al, you of all people should know that. How many times have you tried to get over Scorpius?"

Al ignored this. "You try something on him, you'll ruin that. You'll break up our family."

"Teddy isn't like that," James protested. "Even if he doesn't feel like that, he'll-"

"Which brings me to another point," Al said. "_Teddy. Is. Not. A. Pouf._"

"How do you know?" Dimly, James saw Teddy slip onto a stone bench near them.

"He's dating Victoire, you twat! All of us know that!"

"_No, _he's _not_." James said, vehemently. "They broke up. Teddy told me. They broke up three years ago, which you'd know if you actually cared at all about our family, and paid attention to anyone's life besides yours and your little posse of prats."

"Don't drag my friends into this, James," Al said, very low. "This isn't about me or my role in the family. This is about you, and your _stupid_ obsession with a bloke who's five years older than you, practically family, and, oh! A _professor_."

"You don't think I've thought of all of this before?" James yelled, finally losing his ability to keep his voice down. "Of course I've thought of all of this before! Goddammit, Al, I think about that stuff every night! I _know_ Teddy's a fucking professor, and he's straight, and he's nearly family! I keep thinking about what will happen if I cock it up with him, if he rejects me. And god, those times where he looks at me in a different way and I start to think maybe, just maybe, he might feel the same way- I have those _stupid buggering_ facts all floating around my head, reminding me of why it'll never _work_!" James sucked in a deep breath. "But I can't stop."

"Well, try, for Merlin's sake!" Albus yelled. His temper didn't seem to be cooled at all. "Or I swear to Merlin, I will stick my foot so far up your arse you won't be able to ride a broomstick ever again."

"Is that a threat?" James yelled back, getting in Albus' face.

"Fuck yes, it is."

And with that, both boys turned on their heels. Albus went away, fuming, to go find Scorpius and Rose, and James went back to Teddy, where he proceeded to fuck things up royally.

-asthewindblows-

James rubbed his eyes at he sat down at the breakfast table. He yawned, and squinted blearily at Miles, who was sitting across from him. "Whasgoingon?"

"Schedule's been changed," Miles said, passing his schedule across to James, who peered at it, then swore.

"I forgot my glasses back at the dorm."

"Four-eyes," Miles teased, then took the schedule back. "We've got Potions first class today- Longbottom got on the wrong end of devil's snare, he'll be in the hospital wing until Thursday."

James winced. Never mind that Herbology was his favorite class, Neville Longbottom was also very good friends with his family.

Then it sunk in.

Potions first class.

_Teddy. _

**Review!**


	8. Teddy, Potions and Catastrophes

**A/N: 16 chapters. My bad.**

**So. Here's the Potions Class. Hope you enjoy. **

**WHO ELSE SAW INCEPTION? Great movie, am I right? I saw it the other day with my friend and my mind was BLOWN at the ending. Leo DiCap… you make my life. **

**Allright, enough. Enjoy and please review, as always **** I think 35 reviews is the magic number for me to update. Thanks darlings **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

_**Teddy, February 2021**_

He didn't look up as the students filed one by one into his classroom. He didn't want to see the look on James' face.

Unfortunately, he had to look up at some point. He cleared his throat, and chanced a glance out at the classroom. His stomach twisted at the sight of James, head down, marching into the room.

James looked up, and caught his eye. His mouth twisted in a sneer, and he slammed his bag down on the table.

"What is your _problem_, mate?" he heard Miles ask.

"Nothing," James muttered.

Teddy cleared his throat. Every fifth year in the class looked at him, except for James. "Today we will be working on a potion designed to rid oneself of blemishes. Its prime ingredient is bubotuber pus, so I will expect that all of you wear your dragon-hide gloves and exercise extreme caution when handling the liquid." He turned and waved his wand at the chalkboard, where a list of ingredients appeared. "You should find the recipe on page four hundred and thirty-four of your text book. If you can't find something, please see me. I will examine your potions at the end of the period."

With those words, he sat down at his desk.

Teddy may have been a teacher, but he wasn't above using his old prank tactics to get information on what James was doing. He quietly cast an amplification spell on James and Miles that made their voices loud and clear, but only to Teddy.

"-just don't get you," Miles was saying. "You've been acting like this since the house party last night. I'd think you'd be happy, we just won the bloody match!"

"I _am_ happy," James snapped, sounding anything but. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Miles, it's just-"

"You got in a fight with Al last night," said Miles. "What about?" he saw the look on James' face. "Okay, I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me. I just wondered."

"No, it's fine." James began sprinkling powdered unicorn horn into his potion. "I've just never fought with Al like that before. He was really angry, and I still just don't understand why."

The two sat in silence for a moment, while Teddy sat back.

Al had been really angry. But about what? James refused to tell him, and after what had happened between them he doubted James would ever trust him again. He felt a burning behind his eyeballs and hastily looked down, coughing so loud that he almost missed what Miles said next.

"It was about Teddy, wasn't it?"

"Teddy?" James asked, his voice growing squeaky.

"Was he jealous because you're closer to Ted than you are to him?" Miles asked, focusing on pouring the bubotuber pus into his cauldron.

"Oh," James laughed, clearly relieved. "Yeah. Yeah, that was it."

Miles tipped his head to the side. "No. No, that's not right, is it?"

Both boys turned to look at Teddy, who pretended to be preoccupied with grading papers at his desk, even as he felt their gazes burning into his skull.

"Albus found out something… about you. And Teddy." Miles thought about it. "James, do you fancy Teddy?"

Both Teddy and James over-reacted to this statement.

In Teddy's case, it was pushing back his chair, toppling it over, and sending all the papers on his desk flying across the room.

In James' case, it was reaching with his ungloved hands for the nearest thing on the table- the uncorked vial of bubotuber pus. It spurted all over him, Miles, and everyone else within a five-foot radius.

The effects began to show immediately.

Teddy stood up quickly from his position on the floor, and barked out, "Miles, Julia, Katherine, Gwendolen, and Jay! Report immediately to the hospital wing, have Madam Pomfrey take care of that."

The students left immediately, still dripping yellow goo and shaking quite profusely.

James, who had suffered the least damage from the pus, smiled sardonically at Teddy. "And what about me, _Professor_?"

Teddy folded his arms as the rest of the class watched in silence. "Did I not specify to wear your gloves, and use extreme caution when handling bubotuber pus?"

"You may have, Professor," James said, loftily, "but I didn't think such rules applied to me."

"You never do," Teddy said, coldly. "Detention tonight, Potter. In my office. Maybe that will teach you to follow instructions."

The bell rang, and Teddy heard James slamming books into his bag, and a whispered, "_fan-fucking-tastic._"

"And twenty points from Gryffindor," Teddy added, "for your cheek and inability to listen to a Professor."

James gave a slight mocking bow.

"And Mr. Potter?" Teddy said, as James was part of the way out the door. The boy slowly turned, clenching his jaw in an extremely sarcastic smile.

"Don't ever try something like that with me again."

**A/N: Don't forget to review!**


	9. James, Stress Release and Detention

**A/N: Wow, 40 reviews! You exceeded my expectations :) thanks so much! Especially you, ConradKCat, for reviewing EVERY CHAPTER... in a row.**

**I'm sorry to disappoint, but there isn't any boylove any time soon :( Teddy has some things he needs to discover about himself and his father (coughSIRIUStypesecretscough). I have the plot all worked out and all the chapters written... but, as we know, I can't stick with a concrete number and although I think it's most likely 16 chapters, it could end up being more (never less). **

**But on the bright side, we are more than halfway through! Wahoo!**

**It was my mommy's birthday yesterday, I called her and sent her a package. Waaaa, I sometimes miss England. But not the weather :D**

**Answers to reviews for Chapter 8 (yeah, I've decided to do this)**

**Soapiefan: thanks!**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL: The "No. No, that's not right, is it?" is actually a direct quote from the movie "Mean Girls". Karen says it, and I completely pictured her dimwitted yet thoughtful face as she talked about the difference between first cousins and cousins (oh, Karen). That isn't to say Miles is dimwitted at all. He's not. But I'm glad you liked him! And thank you for reviewing every chapter :)**

**Shadowed Shinobi: actually, I had to get my best friend to help me write the tension scenes. She's good with that stuff because she's actually gone through the same thing before... except, not magical, and she's a girl. And the other person was a girl too. And her age. But other than that...**

**ConradKCat: Well, don't sacrifice homework for me! The story will be here when you're done! But thank you for the high compliment of reading it anyways :) I'm very glad you like it!**

_**James, February 2021**_

The words seemed to hold double-meaning with James. _"don't ever try something like that with me again." _Meaning: _"don't talk back to me again". _Meaning: _"don't make a move on me again."_

James gritted his teeth, and pulled his soiled robes over his head to throw to the ground. He'd leave them there, and use some of his allowance to buy a new set. At this point, he no longer cared about the questions his father would ask.

He hadn't gotten any of the pus on his skin. He was lucky. It meant he didn't have to go to the Hospital wing, and he could go straight out to the Quidditch grounds for a fly if he wanted to.

It was pouring rain when James reached the locker rooms, which only made him that much happier. In his opinion, there was little better than a long flight in the pouring rain.

It was warm rain, too, for February anyway. He stripped down to his shirt, pulling his jumper off over his head, and cast a quick warming spell over himself, then shouldered his broom and headed into the rain.

For a while it was merely anger and raw, pent-up energy. Angry tactics and loops around the stands and Wronski Feints that left his head spinning.

Slowly, it turned into a sort of dullness. Teddy didn't want him. Teddy didn't care about him. In fact, Teddy was going so far as to distance himself from James, as if his gayness might be a disease. Strangely, this fact didn't anger James anymore, it only left him with a hollow ache in his chest. He couldn't see his life without Teddy in it somewhere- whether as a lover or just his best friend, he didn't care.

He couldn't do it.

He hovered in the air, hundreds of feet above the ground, and let the rain soak him. Let it flatten his impossibly messy black hair and blur his glasses, let it cement his shirt and tie to his chest, let it wash away everything he was feeling.

He was numb by the time he touched the ground, his warming charm having worn off ages ago.

For a minute, he stupidly thought someone had stuck a mirror in the mud, facing him, next to the stands, because he was looking at himself. Then he realized, with a mental slap upside the head, that it was Albus, who was shouldering a broom.

"Hi," said Al, timidly.

James' eyes narrowed.

"Come out here to think?" Al said.

James strode forward, a few strides, and pushed Al backwards into the mud. "I hope you're happy!" he yelled at his brother, who looked startled and almost… hurt. "Teddy won't fucking talk to me, so I hope you're happy you son of a bitch! You got what you wanted. I'll never be with Teddy."

He left Albus lying in the mud, skipping over the showers and trudging straight to the common room, not caring if Filch caught him and hung him by the toes for the amount of mud he was tracking through the castle at the moment.

"James."

He would have recognized that voice in his sleep, but he didn't want to turn. At all. He would have given anything to be able to just walk away.

Unfortunately, he'd never been able to deny Teddy anything.

He turned with a sigh. "Yes, Professor Lupin?"

Something in Teddy's cheek twitched. "I'm Teddy right now, James. Look, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Last night-"

"I was just mucking around," James said, forcing a smile. "Sorry if you thought I was serious."

Teddy didn't seem to buy it. He was still looking at James with a calculating expression on his face. "I was taking a walk, but I might as well bring you back for your detention now. It'll be two hours."

"Fine." James said, shortly, following Teddy back to his office.

"You'll be husking these snargluff pods," Teddy said, passing him a basket full. "Make sure to get all of the husks off, and do it evenly."

James started to peel the husks, glowering at the table below him.

They sat in silence for nearly the whole two hours, their only company being the rain pattering around them. James desperately wished for something that would break the awkward silence, but to no avail.

"You've got to be more careful than that with the pods, James," came Teddy's surprisingly gentle voice from above him.

James tilted his head up, and shot Teddy a look so scathing that he saw Teddy actually take a step backward. "I know what I'm doing, thanks." he said.

"Teddy-"

James stood up, stuffing a pod into the bag. "This is my last pod," he said, "and it's been two hours. I can go now." He turned to walk out the door, then stopped slowly. "Don't worry," he said. "I won't act out in your class anymore. I won't seek you out between classes, or spend time with you. I won't treat you as anything more than a professor. That's what you wanted, isn't it? Well, congratulations," he said, wrenching open the door, "you got your wish."

He slammed it behind him and hurried away, trying to pretend that he'd just done the right thing.

**A/N: review!**

**After this chapter, there will be a skip of a few months. There's really no point in watching Teddy and James ignore each other February-June when I know you'd rather get to the more interesting stuff.**

**We get to see Harry again next chapter! Yahootie!**


	10. Teddy, Learning the Past and Surprises

**Slight skip, again- February to June. I'm just warning you. I would write the months between, but honestly... they're tediously boring, in my mind. As I said before, who wants to hear about James and Teddy ignoring each other February, March, April, May, and June? Really? **

**Soapiefan: as always, thank you :) your compliments mean so much!**

**Hufflepuff Girl17: I always hate writing anger, because I don't get angry with people much. I'm just not good at it. **

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL: I based the "flying in the rain" off of my greatest stress relief- running in the rain. I'm part of a Cross Country team and I find running in the rain to be so amazingly therapeutic. My mum says thank you! And here's Teddy's big discovery. And I know. I always pictured James as a bit thick-headed... James Senior definitely was, and Harry was at times too. So I think both of Harry's sons inherited that trait, while Lily is more like Lily senior and Ginny.**

**ConradKCat: My mum thanks you kindly :) and of course, never driven insane! So many reviews are a very high compliment! And I'm not sure how into heartfelt confessions James is. I picture him being a bit more awkward about it than Teddy is (after all, James is Harry's son and Teddy is Remus Lupin's). **

**Shadowed Shinobi:**** thanks! And I know, I can get really into some fanfics, too! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Did you know that? **

**Aaaand, without further ado, here's Teddy, with his point of view. **

**I swear I didn't mean for that to rhyme the way it did.**

_**Teddy, June 2021**_

__He hated what it had become between him and James.

The distance between them was too much for him. During Potions, James would keep his head down, eyes focused on his cauldron, staying silent the whole class. Teddy avoided calling on him, something he was certain the rest of the class would eventually notice.

And the rest of the time? Well, he never saw James. He saw the others a fair amount- Al would stop by his office for a cup of tea and a chat about the latest Cannon's game, Rose would do her homework in the quiet of his room, Lily would consult him about the pranks she was planning on pulling, and Dominique would practice her transfiguration. But James never showed. Outside of Potions, Teddy never saw him.

Honestly, he was starting to wonder if he'd made a mistake. If he should have just let James carry on with what he wanted to do.

_I could get sent to Azkaban,_ he reminded himself, whenever he found himself treacherously slipping into the memories of James' eyes smiling at him. _I could lose Harry and Ginny's trust forever._

But James' mocking tone constantly would drift into his mind- _'I'm not a fucking queer, James, so keep your faggot hands off of me.'_- and he'd just feel even worse.

It'd been months. Months since he'd talked to James, heard his laugh, or even his voice.

**A/N: skip again to August, cos it's like two more months of boredom. ick. **

_**August 2021**_

"'Bout time you stopped in to see me," Harry joked, sliding a cup of tea across the table.

Teddy didn't answer, instead staring down at the comfortable, pitted oak table.

"What's troubling you, Ted?" Harry's voice said, gently, a voice that had coaxed so many dilemmas out of Teddy- when he'd accidentally kissed Victoire and discovered he didn't fancy her, when he got his first detention, when he'd lost his first Quidditch match.

He looked up into the same emerald green eyes, eyes that had hardly changed over all the years Teddy had known him- even when Harry was only twenty-two years old, and Teddy had been five. They were gentle.

Teddy knew Harry Potter had defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time, but sometimes he did wonder if everyone might be mistaken. The Harry Potter he knew would not hurt so much as a spider- rather, capturing it under a glass and letting it loose outside, much to Ron's disdain. The Harry Potter he knew would disarm his enemies rather than stun or hex them. The Harry Potter he knew was not the auror Harry Potter, but rather the father Harry Potter, who was currently sitting across the table from him, blowing on his cup of tea.

Teddy caressed his own mug. "I want to know about my father," he said. He hadn't known he was going to say it until he did.

A grin broke across Harry's face. "Luckily for you, Ted, I knew your father better than I ever knew my own. What would you like to know?"

"Why aren't there any pictures or records or love notes or _anything_ between he and my mother?" Teddy asked. It was something he had been thinking of for a while.

The grin slid away. Harry looked down into his tea. "Now, Teddy, that's a long story, and I'm not sure you'll like it much. You see, there isn't really a happily ever after."

"I feel like I need to know," Teddy persisted. "Was he not happy with my mother? Everyone said they were only married for a short time. Why? Was he unhappy with her? Or me?" he was embarrassed to hear his voice crack.

Harry looked up swiftly. "Stay here," he said, as if Teddy might get up and leave, and stood up. "I have something to show you."

He was back in only moments with a small, leather-bound book. "It was your dad's," he said. "He gave it to me in his will, and told me I should only give it to you when you were ready for it."

Teddy reached for it, but Harry held it back. "There are some things I need to explain to you first."

Teddy leaned back in his chair, as Harry took a gulp of tea and then began.

"Remus Lupin had three best friends. James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. They met on the train to Hogwarts and their first year and after that, they were as thick as thieves. Nothing could break them apart. All of them enjoyed pulling pranks- even Remus, although he had the angelic face and flawless reputation that even James and Sirius couldn't pull off. Remus got into trouble the least out of the four of them. This, too, may have been the fact that Remus was a werewolf, and most of the teachers were fully in pity of him. Even McGonagall was easy on him, and you know how she is."

Both men grinned.

"So when the three other boys found out that Remus was a werewolf, he was fully expecting to be kicked out of their dorm, forgotten as their friend, exiled. It came as a great shock to him- but no great shock to you, I am sure- that his best friends accepted him for exactly who he was, or what he was. Even better- they became animagi for him. Peter was a rat, Sirius was a dog, and James was a stag. Every full moon they would run with Moony- that was what they nicknamed the werewolf.

"In Remus' sixth year, he fell in love. Maddeningly, scarily, crazily in love."

_This is where my mum comes in_, Teddy thought.

"With one of his best friends."

Teddy said straight up, confused.

"Sirius Black was one of the best-looking blokes in Hogwarts, and a lady's bloke, and so undeniably straight- or so Remus thought."

_What?_

"But he was wrong."

_There's no way-_

"At the end of their sixth year, Sirius went up to Remus and said, in his easy-going way, that he was in love with him. And that was the start of their relationship. Later, Sirius told Remus that the reason his hands were in his pockets-only adding to the casual persona- was because they were shaking like mad and he didn't want Remus to see. So Remus may have been maddeningly, scarily, crazily in love with Sirius Black, but Sirius may have been even crazier in love with Remus Lupin."

"But my mum-"

Harry held up a hand. "I'm getting to that part, don't worry." He took a deep breath.

"Now, betrayal is a hard thing to overcome. They looked back afterwards and realized that it had to have been Peter all along, planting the seeds of doubt in their heads. But at the time, Voldemort was on his first rise and a lot of families went into hiding. Lily and James Potter hid, with their newborn son, under a Fidelius Charm. Remus was not told that the secret-keeper was switched from Sirius to Peter. They all believed that Remus was the spy- off of information that Peter Pettigrew told them. So when Peter betrayed them all, the only person left alive who knew that the secret-keepers had been switched was Sirius Black- who was immediately thereof accused with the murders of Lily and James Potter and the attempted murder of their son, Harry Potter-" here Harry bowed his head,"-he was sent straight to Azkaban, without trial.

"Obviously, once Sirius' innocence was discovered, Remus and Sirius tried to be together again. They knew it would never be quite the same, because between them had been twelve years of anger, twelve years of the belief that the other didn't trust them. Betrayal can break even the closest of bonds, and it broke theirs. They had only just begun to rebuild it when Sirius fell through the veil."

Teddy nodded. He had heard the story of Sirius' death before.

"Remus, obviously, was devastated, although I couldn't see just how much at the time. He holed himself up, became distant. He didn't even notice the obvious effort of one Nymphadora Tonks to gain his affections."

Here's where Teddy's mum came in.

"I don't think he never loved her," Harry said, thoughtfully. "I think he did. But how could she fill the hole in his heart left by Sirius? He was not only his lover, he was what was left of his three best friends. He had grown up with the man. He was absolutely lost without him. But Tonks helped fill that hole a little. She made him laugh. She wanted him, which I think kind of shocked him. He wasn't over Sirius' death, but I think she helped to make him forget. And when he finally agreed to marry her, I'm sure he knew he didn't have much longer to live. He knew, I think, that once Sirius was gone, he would go. He wanted nothing but her happiness- but he could love her no more than a dear friend."

A tear slid down Teddy's cheek. Harry covered Teddy's hand with his own.

"He never regretted you," Harry said, quietly. "He was upset when she was pregnant- but he only feared for the safety of his son. He did not want a baby to suffer through what he had suffered through. He loved you from the moment he saw you, Teddy, and I think his only regret from dying is that he would not be able to see you grow up. Your father loved you, Teddy, and wherever he is now, I know he still does."

Teddy wiped his eyes. "Okay," he said, in barely more than a whisper. "I can't pretend to understand why he married my mother, but I'm glad he found someone after Sirius died." he looked up. "And I understand his love for Sirius."

"I thought you would," Harry said, sliding the book across the table as he stood up.

"Harry," Teddy said, making up his mind. Harry looked back at him.

Teddy stood up, too. "I'm gay."

Harry didn't say anything. He walked back to Teddy, and he hugged him tight, and let Teddy press his face into the warm shoulder of Harry's muggle shirt, a place where Teddy had pressed his face so many times before when he was younger.

"It's okay," Harry whispered in his ear, and that was all that Teddy had ever needed to hear.

**A/N: you know what to do. **

**This chapter's long. For me anyway. **

**I don't know what it is, but I used to never enjoy writing Harry. I still don't enjoy writing him as a teenager- I have a hard time writing the way JKR does- but for some reason I enjoy writing him as an adult. I feel as though he'd be still like himself, but with some very important differences in maturity and such, you know?**

**Ah, I'm babbling. Please review! **


	11. James, Floo Powder and Uncle Charlie

**A/N: same day, later on. **

**Ack. I just caught my "little brother" (my exchange family's son) watching porn! *sniffle* they grow up so fast.**

**So! Turns out my best friend Ary is on and reads this story. So hi, Ary, out there! You're awesome :) I love you. Anyway, you should thank her that I'm updating this today because I was GOING to wait until tomorrow night.**

**I did notice the reviews slacking off a bit. Don't be shy, I love hearing from all of you! Reviews help like crazy! Don't make me be one of THOSE authors who requires a specific number of reviews before I post the next chapter.**

**Because the next chapter is Remus' journal. Don't tell me you won't find that interesting. YOU WILL. **

**Right now, I'm dissatisfied with the epilogue's ending. Trying to think of a way to make it less cheesy. Need Ary's help.**

**Review answering is at the bottom this time!**

**Ellara- thanks for letting me know of my mess-up. I fixed it, so no worries :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN IT.**

_**James, August 2021**_

"Teddy was here," Harry mentioned as James hopped down the stairs. James froze in the act of plucking an apple out of the fruit bowl on the table.

"Did he ask for me?"

"No," said Harry, his forehead wrinkling, "which is odd. Have you two been in a fight or something? He hasn't been round in ages and you haven't talked to him."

"Dad, remember how we didn't see Teddy for a whole year when I was fifteen?" James asked, successfully maneuvering around his father's question.

Harry scratched his chin. "That's true. Listen, if you see your mum, could you tell her not to come to the kitchen? I'm wrapping up her birthday present."

James peered over his dad's shoulder. "What did you get her?"

Harry shoved him lightly, blocking his view. "Not a chance. You'll have to come up with something for her yourself. And Charlie floo'ed this morning, said he wanted to talk to you. You can floo into his house at any time."

"I guess I'll go now," James said, his forehead wrinkling, "seeing as I'm not going anywhere else."

Harry let James through the door, and James covertly snuck a look around for Ginny's present.

"No good," said Harry's voice from behind him, "I put a concealing charm on it."

"Damn," James muttered, and took a handful of floo powder from the glass jar beside the fireplace. "You're good."

"I just know you too well," Harry countered.

James stuck his tongue out at his father, very maturely, and threw the handful of powder into the fireplace before stepping in. "Number Fourteen, Woolborough Road, Crawley."

He stumbled out of Charlie's fireplace and rubbed the soot off his glasses. Charlie was sitting at his kitchen table, sipping a beer.

"Hello, Jamie," he said, sliding a butterbeer across the table. "How've you been?"

"Not bad," James said, cautiously, taking the drink. "You?"

"Not bad." He scrutinized James over his own drink. "Come on, James, tell me what's wrong."

Charlie had always been the Uncle that James confided in, the one who he felt he could tell anything to. But the idea of telling Uncle Charlie that he was in love with Teddy, that he'd made a move on Teddy, that he'd been rejected by Teddy, was so revolting to him he thought he might throw up.

"Is it Teddy?" Charlie asked, so unexpectedly that James choked on his butterbeer.

"_What_?" He sputtered.

"I just wondered if it might be Teddy. You two were always so close, and he seems so miserable lately. Did you two have a fight or something?"

Or something. That might be the correct way to describe it.

"Yeah, we had a fight." James admitted.

"What about?" Charlie said, curiously. "Did he- I don't know, find out you fancied him or something?"

It was James' second time to choke. "_What?_" he spluttered, again.

Charlie laughed, a pleasant, booming sound. "Oh, James. Does it really surprise you all that much to know? I've been with Oliver for, what, twelve years now? Have you ever heard of 'gaydar'?"

James simply stared, his mouth hanging open.

"So what happened?"

"I made a move on him. And then he shoved me away, and told me that he was a teacher and I was a student." James said, still in shock. Charlie _knew_? Who else did?

"And then?"

"And then... I made a cruel remark about him not being a faggot like me, and got away, fast."

Charlie quirked one eyebrow. "So..." he said, slowly. "You didn't wait around to see if maybe he might have something else to say to you."

"No," James said, slightly abashed.

"Did it ever occur to you that you just put Teddy in a very uncomfortable position? He is a teacher and you are a student. He would lose his job if it was discovered that he did something with you. Particularly since you are both male, particularly since you are godbrothers, _particularly _since you are Harry Potter's son. He might never have been able to get a job again. Did you think of that?"

"No," James said, again, now considerably embarrassed.

"And it never occurred to you that Teddy may feel the exact same way about you as you do about him, he just may have considered what being brash about this would mean for both of you?"

"No, Uncle Charlie, it didn't!" James cried, "and you know why? Because at the moment, all I was focused on was the fact that my _little brother_, who is supposed to look up to me and admire me, had just completely turned on me for how I feel about Teddy! And that right after I finally worked up the courage to do something about how I felt, I was outright rejected. Do you know how that feels?" he could feel his face heating up and his voice cracked embarrassingly a few times, but he didn't care.

"Actually, I do," Charlie said, softly. "Many times over. Do you think it was easy coming out to my family? Telling my brothers I was gay, and your mum, who'd always looked up to me the most? Do you think it was easy for me to tell my mum and dad, 'sorry, there won't be any little Charlies running around?' No. It wasn't. But I did it because I had to. And of course I've been rejected. If you haven't, you're not human. But you know what? I don't believe that Teddy rejected you. And I don't believe that Al did either. And when I finally told your mum- the first of anyone, mind you- she welcomed me with open arms and I have no doubt she would give you the same exact treatment. Your family loves you, James- no matter who or what you are."

"But Teddy- his job-"

"Teddy is planning on resigning soon," Charlie said. "He never really wanted to be a teacher- I think it was a temporary position while he looked elsewhere. But he's gotten a few job offers- remember that he used to be an auror? I think he may want to go back there. He's been offered position as a healer, too."

"So then-"

"On September 15th," Charlie said, smoothly speaking over James' words, "You will be seventeen. And then nobody can stop you from doing what you want to do, or being who you want to be with."

James drained the last of his butterbeer and stood up, feeling considerably more light-hearted.

"And James?" Charlie added, as James turned towards the fireplace. He looked back over his shoulder.

"If I were you, I would think about telling your dad," he said.

**A/N: Review answering!**

**Hufflepuff Girl17: please don't cry. but I'm glad you love the ending :)**

**Soapiefan: I hope "updating demon" is a compliment! I try hard to stick to canon except when the canon is bullshit. Like Remus and Tonks.**

**Shadowed Shinobi: notears! Well, thank you for the compliment. Chapters 10 and 11 were probably my favorite chapters to write, honestly.**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL: Unlucky you :( I don't start college until a few weeks. Yes, I told my mum "my reviewers on fanfiction say Happy Birthday" and she called me a nerd and told me to talk to her when I got a life, so I won't be calling her for the rest of my life then...**

**Noir Lime Canuto: your name interests me. And I'm glad you understand my Harry issue (wow, that sounds weird). thanks so much!**

**ConradKCat:**** lol, I have a Sirius and Remus thing, so does Ary. I couldn't NOT put them in my story. Plus, it's good for Teddy. And really, I think Harry might know. I know I should know this, because I'm the author, but sometimes the characters are more knowing than I am. They pen themselves, really. **

**please review, and boost my self-esteem.**

**My daddy says it doesn't need boosting, and my ego is inflated enough.**

**but why should I believe him? **


	12. Teddy, Remus' Journal

**A/N: I had to throw some Remus/Sirius into this, okay? I love this whole chapter except the ending. I'm uncertain about the ending. **

**Review responses at the bottom. **

**You people make my day, so review review review!**

**Has anyone seen A Very Potter Musical and a Very Potter Sequel? I'd like to point out that AVPS just further solidifies my point that Remus and Sirius are totally an item. Just watch both, on youtube, by Starkid Potter, if you haven't. They're HILARIOUS.**

**Disclaimer: It gets rather repetitive. I don't own any characters in this story besides Miles Dawson and Charlie Weasley's fictional boyfriend (who may or may not be Oliver Wood, it depends on if you like that couple). **

_January 12th, 1976_

_ Well, Sirius is off with some bird, and James is trying to hit up Lily, and Peter is god-knows-where and I think I may be drunk, but that's impossible because I've only had butterbeer, but the people in Gryffindor (the Sixth and Seventh years, anyway) have been celebrating the New Year for twelve days now and who knows how long this butterbeer has been marinating and how many alcoholic drinks have been tipped into it._

_ Anyway, my head is buzzing quite pleasantly._

_ It's weird, inn't? I just figured out I'm in love with Sirius Black. Probably when I'm sober this will be a shock to me and I'll start weeping and smacking my head against the wall and saying "whywhywhywhy" over and over again, but the truth is that I think I've loved him for ages and leave it up to me to only figure it out when I'm drunk. Remus, you are the most pathetic spo in the world. Sop Spo. Oh, damn, I can't spell at all right now. _

_ Sirius would find that funny. Actually he'd find the fact that I'm drunk funny, if I could even find him. I don't remember who he disappeared with. Miranda something. Not his usual type. She didn't have sandy brown hair or blue eyes- that's the kind he goes for. Maybe if I pointed out to him that I have sandy brown hair and blue eyes he might want to go have a bit of a snog with me._

_ Oh, Merlin, I am pissed, if I'm saying things like this._

_ Blast it all, I'm going to go have another butterbeer._

_January 17th, 1976_

_ WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?_

_ It's only just sunk in. I mean, why am I in love with Sirius Black? And why can't I change that, or even want to change it, when it's so achingly clear that he is as straight as an arrow? I can't tell anyone about this revelation of mine, and you know why? Because the person I would normally tell IS SIRIUS._

_ I think I'm drunk again, so I can't tell if this is ironic or not._

_ See, I've decided I will only write in this book when I am completely drunk OR when something ridiculously important and/or impossible happens, like when Peter gets an O on his Charms exam or Lily asks James out or Sirius Black confesses his undying love for me._

_ HA._

_ Sirius and Peter and James are drunk too, which is the only reason I'm writing in this book, is because I'm quite scared of them reading it but because they're drunk they haven't tried. Well, I'll amend that, they have tried but they're all more pissed than me so the words won't stay still on the page. Sirius even accused me of enchanting the page so the words moved. Hardly._

_ James accuses me of being a boring drunk, the deep philosophical type. Unsurprisingly, Sirius and James are the rowdy kind of drunks, they like to make noises and shout things they think are deep. Peter just giggles a lot, which isn't much different than his normal personality. _

_ AWAY, Sirius._

_ All right. He just fell asleep. I'm quite confused._

_-Moony_

After this, there were some more random drunk entries (most of which made no sense at all), but a lot of useful notes. Remus had been quite the artist, Teddy discovered, as he went through drawing after drawing of the Marauders and occasionally pictures of Lily. Sirius, of course, was the most dominant of all of the Marauders- _It's because, _Remus said in one of his entries, _Sirius will pose for me the most, the vain puppy._

Teddy smiled. Of course it had never occurred to his reserved father that Sirius liked having an excuse to sit and watch Remus for hours on end while he posed as much as Remus loved to watch Sirius.

There were notes. For classes, between him and James, or him and Peter, and more frequent, him and Sirius.

_James._

**Do you want me to pass this to Sirius?**

_No, you prat, I want to talk to you. _

**What about? I'm trying to write a love poem to Evans.**

_Could you please re-read what you just wrote?_

**Oh dear Merlin. Carry on, then, before I completely lose my mind. **

_Do you know why Sirius has been acting so strange?_

**No stranger than usual.**

_I mean... he's stopped... touching me._

**Mate, could _you_ go back and read what you just wrote? Somebody's been on the end of a bad confundus charm...**

_You know what I mean. He's always so... touchy-feely? _

**Maybe he fancies you. Heh. I've really got to go now, though, Moony. Talk to you later.**

Pages and pages of Potions notes, of herbs and plants and flowers useful for brewing, additions to the textbook instructions... and the defense against the dark arts pages... well, Teddy was fascinated. There was so much information there, about dark creatures and dark spells and dark wizards... it was unbelievable.

There were pages on Werewolves, too. Remus would cite books and state whether the information within them was true or false.

_"For example, this one-" _Remus pointed out, at one time, _"says that werewolves mate for life. That's a load of poppycock if I've ever heard one. I don't know where they come up with this stuff, but they clearly don't deem it important to think of asking an actual werewolf if he can only shack up with one person for the rest of his life."_

The things Teddy read... he skipped over a lot of notes, however, to find Remus' next truly interesting diary entry.

_June 2nd, 1976_

_ What._

_ What is this world turning into?_

_ I'm not drunk for once, thank you very much for asking, and I'm writing in this because I THINK THE WORLD IS ENDING._

_ Would you like to know why?_

_ Because Lily and James are sitting, TOGETHER, in the Marauder's tree, on the lowest branch, and they're laughing. Laughing! She's not hitting him, she's not hexing his hair blue, and she's not insulting him. Oh, dear Merlin. She just giggled. Giggled. At one of his jokes. She GIGGLED. What is the world coming to?_

_ I take back what I said. The world is definitely ending. And do you know why? Because Peter just came up to me, all sunshine and lollipops and rainbows, and told me that he got an O on his Charms exam. And that the teacher was so amazed, he's talking to McGonagall about Peter maybe becoming his assistant, so that Peter will be the Charms teacher when Professor Flitwick retires! _

_ James just fell out of the tree, so hopefully that means Lily pushed him and the world has righted itself on its axis again. I have to go for a bit. I need to help James up._

_-Remus_

_Later, _

_ It turns out James didn't need my bloody helping up because the reason he fell out of the tree is because LILY ASKED HIM OUT. She did. She asked him out, not the other way around._

_ And do you know what this means, if you turn back to my drunken ramblings of January 17th? _

_ It means the only thing left to happen is that Sirius Black has to confess his undying love for me._

_ And he's marching towards me right now, with a very determined look on his face. _

_ I am about to either become the happiest bloke alive, or the most disappointed one._

_Later,_

_ I am the happiest bloke alive. _

**A/N: Hey. Review. **

**Shadowed Shinobi****: You know what? I can see OliverxCharlie too. It just popped into my head when I was writing chapter 11 and I was like, why not? Thanks!**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL****: I'm glad you liked it :)**

**Soapiefan:**** Actually, I think I'm in awe that for once I'm finishing a story, start to finish. I usually lose inspiration and stop halfway through. But in this story, for once, I didn't. **

**Noir Lime Canuto:**** Oh, I know. JKR made it totally obvious when she posted the family tree thing and it showed Charlie as never having married. He was gay. Gaygaygay. I have always thought Sirius and Remus were gay, and I argue it vehemently with anyone who says otherwise. Dumbledore just gives off that vibe, you know. **

**tricks-meuler****: You're right, I suppose- Remus and Sirius are the only slash couple I actually believe to be canon (besides Dumbledore and Grindelwald, obviously). **

**ConradKCat:**** I love cheesy speeches! They make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside :) I'm so glad you like it so much!**

**121 Amanda:**** thanks so much!**

**Ellara:**** In response again, thanks for realizing that I switched the names... not even my beta did, haha. **


	13. James, Telling Mum and Dad AllKnowing

**A/N: Your reviews mean so much to me. Thank you all!**

**Ron Weasley: Where have you been all my life?**

**Harry Potter: In a cupboard, under some stairs.**

**Ron Weasley: Oh, cool!**

**-A Very Potter Sequel**

**4 more chapters, children! I'm still not satisfied with Chapter 16. **

**I'd like to respond to reviews, I really would, but unfortunately my computer won't let me see them :( damn internet. **

_**James, September 1st, 2021**_

"Your sixth year," Harry was saying as he helped James heft one of the trunks out to the car. "Blimey, you lot make me feel old."

"Dad, you're not old," James bumped his father's shoulder. "You're not old until your hair turns gray, okay?"

"Don't tell your mother that," Harry grinned. "She found a gray hair last night and went into hysterics. It took me an hour to calm her down. If I catch you saying anything like that around her I'll take your broomstick away for a week."

James' eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't."

"I would," Harry said, grimly. "So watch it."

James sat against the boot of the car and watched his dad walk back into the house. He couldn't see himself telling his father. How could he? He was too scared to even admit it aloud to himself when he knew he was completely alone, for fear of someone else hearing.

Ginny was the next one outside. Her hair was tied into a long red ponytail. She had turned forty only a few months ago, and was still, in James' opinion, the prettiest of any of his friend's mothers. She didn't try to look younger like all the other women her age- she accepted the laugh lines and forehead wrinkles that came with age.

"Hi, sweetheart," she said to her oldest son as she put a basket down next to the car. "Is Telemachus in the car?"

"Yep, in his cage, in the back," James said, thumbing back towards his owl.

"Where's Socrates?" Ginny asked, hoisting the hissing, spitting wicker basket into the back seat of the car. "I've got Xerxes here."

"I've got no idea where Al's stupid owl is and I don't care." James said, his good mood suddenly vanishing.

Ginny straightened up, her forehead wrinkling. "Oi. What's this all about?"

James kicked a pebble. "Nothing."

She sat down next to him on the ledge of the boot. "Come on, James. What's going on with you? You've been withdrawn all summer- you didn't even play Quidditch with Miles."

"It's nothing, mum."

"Well, it's clearly something, or you wouldn't be acting like this. Something's eating away at you." She lifted his chin up until he was looking into the brown eyes that were so like Teddy's. "You can tell me anything, you know. I will always love you."

"I know," James said, and took a deep breath. "Mum, I'm gay."

Ginny blinked. "Oh. Was that it?"

"What do you mean, was that it? Did everyone know but me?" James said, extraordinarily frustrated.

Ginny laughed, and wrapped an arm around James' shoulder. "No, honey, I can honestly say I didn't know what you were about to tell me. But I did have an inkling that you were gay. You've never been able to keep a girlfriend. You never wanted to talk about girls when Miles, Fred, Lorcan, and Lysander did. And I don't know if you remember this, but when you were four you asked me if it was okay for boys to want to kiss other boys. I couldn't stop laughing."

James attempted a smile.

Ginny looked at him. "Jamie, my big brother is gay. You didn't really think that I would judge you for it?"

"I don't know," James said, feeling stupider by the second, "I thought... maybe... it was different if it was your son. Not just your brother."

Ginny sighed. "Oh, honey." She pressed a kiss against his forehead, then leaned her cheek against his shoulder. "You've gotten tall."

"I'm almost seventeen, mum," he said, feeling strangely comforted by the weight of her head on his shoulder.

"So you are. You're making me feel old," she said.

Remembering his father's words, James said, "Not old, mum. Never old."

He could feel his mum smile against his shoulder. "Your father told you to say that."

"I won't admit to anything," he said, and his shoulder shook with her laughter.

"When did you find out?" she asked, sitting up.

"That I was gay?" she nodded.

"Promise you won't be mad about who I fancy?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't act like a twelve-year-old, Jamie, just tell me."

He rolled his eyes back. "Fine. It was on the train to Hogwarts in my fourth year and I realized I had a fancy for Teddy."

"Teddy _Lupin_?" Ginny said incredulously, and when James nodded, she thought it over. "I suppose I should have seen that one. You two were always so close." She grinned at him. "I'm glad you fancy him, though. I thought for a moment it was Miles, and I was preparing to be the shoulder you cried on when your heart was broken- because that boy is straight as an arrow. But Teddy- I always saw him as slightly bent. I mean, he didn't want Victoire. That girl is part _Veela_. Who wouldn't want her, besides a gay bloke?"

James laughed. His mother had successfully done what she always had- cheered him up, despite all odds.

"Did you know Teddy's dad was gay?" Ginny asked, conversationally.

James laughed, sure she must still be joking.

"Why are you laughing?" she said in surprise. "He was. He was with Dad's Godfather- Sirius Black."

"And I suppose you're going to tell me that Sirius got pregnant, and that's why Teddy was born." James said, sarcastically.

"I won't say that Remus didn't make some poor choices after Sirius died, but he was lonely." Ginny said, "and Tonks was in love with him. He wanted to make her happy, as best as he could."

"And that included having _sex _with her?" James said, a little too loudly.

"As interesting as this conversation sounds," Albus said, coming up from behind them with a broomstick case in his hands, "I think I'll pass on hearing the back story behind that awkward statement. Mum, where can I put my broom?"

Ginny patted James' back to get him up and opened the boot. "Dad expanded it."

"Mum?" James asked.

She turned to look at him. "Do you think I should tell Dad?"

Ginny's mouth curved up into a half-smile. "I think he already knows," she said. "But you should. I'm sure his face will turn an interesting color when you try."

James laughed. "Now?"

Ginny nodded. "While Lily's still shoving things into her truck pell-nell and Albus is trying to shove a broomstick into the boot that hasn't been magically expanded."

James raised an eyebrow and she grinned wickedly. "I needed to do something to get you time alone with your father."

"You're evil," James stated, and turned to go back into the house, scattering dust all over the drying August grass.

Harry was in the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards, and running his hand through his messy hair agitatedly.

"Hi, Dad," James said, and Harry turned his head around. "James, have you seen your brother's owl?"

"No," said James, "and to be quite honest, I don't think he'd be in the cupboards, Dad."

"Your mum said that, too," Harry chuckled, closing the cabinet doors, and leaning against the counter. "Have you got everything?"

"I have, and we've still an hour before we have to leave, luckily for Lily."

There was a bang and a muffled shout from above, then clattering footsteps. Lily's face appeared over the railing. "Erm... Dad?"

Harry looked up at her.

"You had copies of that framed wedding photo of you and Mum, right?"

Harry sighed. "Fortunately, yes. Did your wand go off again?"

"I sat on it by accident," Lily said, and disappeared from view.

Harry looked back at James, the green eyes catching on the hazel, and they both laughed for a long time.

"I need to talk to you, Dad." James said, finally, and Harry inclined his head. "I thought you might."

"Dad... it's that... I'm-"

"Gay?" Harry asked, a corner of his mouth turning up.

James sighed.

"Or, I'm sorry, did you want to be the one to say it?"

"It seems like everyone around here knew before I did!" James said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Uncle Charlie, Miles, Mum, and now you!"

"Your mum told you about what you asked when you were four, didn't she?"

"She did, and that isn't the point, Dad. If you all knew I was gay, why didn't you tell me?"

Harry grinned. "James, listen to what you just said. How would you have reacted if I'd told you, a few years ago- James, guess what? You're gay."

James thought about it. "Okay, you're right," he admitted. "I'm just frustrated."

"Which I can understand," Harry reassured him. "But why've you chosen to tell me now?"

"I fancy Teddy," James said.

Harry blinked. "Okay," he said, "okay, I can't say I caught that one coming, but okay. I can see that. And?"

"And?"

"And why is it important you tell me?"

James thought about it. "Because I need at least someone I love to accept me for who or what I am, and who I decide to love, since Teddy didn't."

"He didn't?" Harry said, a strange look in his eyes.

James swallowed hard, a lump appearing in his throat. "No."

Harry pulled his son into a hug. "James, I think you need to go a little below the surface and figure out what Teddy's trying to tell you. If I know Teddy like I think I do, he wouldn't shun you for something like that."

He patted his son's back and let him go. "Feeling better?"

"Much," said James, trying to retain some of his manly dignity. "Dad, has Albus talked to you yet?"

"Yesterday," said Harry. "I suppose we have to content ourselves with Lily carrying on the Potter line then, don't we?"

"Did he tell you-"

"It's Scorpius, I know," said Harry. "I won't pretend it didn't come as a little bit of a blow. But both Draco and I are over our petty fights from Hogwarts. The past is behind the two of us know, and I won't grudge Al for who he loves, either."

"Even though Scorpius is dating Rose?" James couldn't help but ask.

Harry smiled, a secretive smile. "There's a dynamic about their relationship I can't tell you," he said, "But I've talked to Rose. Maybe Al will tell you when the time comes."

"What is it?" James asked, but Harry picked up his jacket and walked out the door. "Go get your sister before she blows up another photo," he said.

"Dad?"

But Harry was already out at the car.

He trudged up the stairs to Lily's room. "Lil, it's time to go."

"Oh, shut up and help me shove the rest of this bloody stuff into my trunk, you sodding poof," said Lily grumpily, throwing what seemed like her entire wardrobe at James.

"_Did everyone know except me?_"

Lily laughed.

**A/N: I'd like to get to 80 reviews before I post the next chapter. It may sound greedy, but it would be marvelous if I could have 100 reviews total for this story. Right now I have 70. Ary, I'm pretty sure you posted the 69th review, and I'm pretty sure you did it on purpose. You're just as twisted as I am, and I love it. **

**Anyway, as I was saying, my goal is 100 reviews and only YOU can make that possible! (and prevent forest fires). **


	14. Teddy, Ingredients and Whomping Willows

**A/N: wow, you guys, that was impressive. Seriously. You guys rock :) so do you think maybe we could get up to 90 for this chapter? :) thanks!**

**This is the EXCITING chapter!**

**Okay Review answering:**

**The-Terrible-Two:**** You guys always review my stories and that makes me happy :) Thank you!**

**FrolicWithNicole:**** Hey, babe. I'm glad Ary told you to read it and I'm glad you like it, but you're still an idiot for thinking popsicles were colored fudgicles. And you break everything.**

**Soapiefan:**** thanks!**

**121 Amanda (response for both 12 and 13):**** Oliver and Charlie would be cute :) I can't take credit for the forest fires thing- I was writing my A/N when my older brother came into the room, read it over my shoulder, and then pointed at me and said, "Only YOU can prevent forest fires!" So I put it in. **

**Twisted Identity:**** I'm glad you found it humorous, I try :)**

**Padfoot's Blondie (response for both 12 and 13):**** I love the names Teddy and James :) I'm naming one of my kids James. It's been my favorite name since I was six. And yeah, actually, I had to say that to my friend Kyle once. Everyone knew he was gay except him :P**

**Shadowed Shinobi:**** (response for both 12 and 13) I'm glad you love the tone, and nerd-rambling is just fine with me :) The family tree is on JKR's official website, that's where I found out all the names of the kids- Roxanne and Fred (Fred's kids), Lorcan and Lysander (Luna's kids), etc. It's weird, because I don't like Remus and Tonks at all in the books. Tonks always sort of bugged me, honestly. I did not know the thing about the flamethrower. I must try sometime. The computer is fixed :) **

**Broken Gold:**** thanks!**

**Noir Lime Canuto:**** Hah, that's awesome! What show is that? You'll find ouuutt... (sing-song voice)**

**ConradKCat:**** (response for both 12 and 13) Thank you for that high compliment! And you are so right about the "gouldness" thing, I never thought of that before... **

**Acrobat Ary:**** Like you'll even see my response to your review, cuz you already read the whole damn story on my computer. **

**Ellara:**** I love cake! Thanks!**

**Perita-BrightEyes:**** Don't worry, I'm not planning on stopping!**

_**Teddy, September 2020**_

Teddy's father's journal was the only thing that could even remotely take his mind off things. The book was full of fascinating things- besides the stories of shenanigans Teddy's father, James' grandfather, the traitor, and Harry's godfather had gotten into, there were potions recipes, information on plants for Herbology, and so much more.

Today, Teddy was bound and determined to gather twigs from the branches of the Whomping Willow. He'd had some close calls and near misses before- evidently, the tree did not like being poked or prodded at- but he was armed now with new information from his father's journal that would protect him. A knot that would freeze the tree's branches.

He looped a rucksack over his shoulder and headed down the halls.

"Teddy!"

Albus was hurrying down the hall, waving frantically.

Teddy slowed. In some small part of his brain, he wondered why he'd never been attracted to Al. As the boy drew closer, he remembered why. Al looked exactly like Harry- the only thing missing was the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

"What's up, Al?" Teddy asked. Al acted like Harry, too- the was very little skirting around the subject at hand.

"It's James," Al said. "There's something wrong with him, has been for ages- just gotten worse since we've been back in school."

A pang of guilt resounded through Teddy's chest. This, of course, was his fault.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Al asked, as though reading Teddy's mind. "I've never seen either of you so down."

Teddy had to force back his panic, trying to remember that there was no conceivable way that Albus knew what had happened between him and James.

"An argument, yes," Teddy said stiffly. "About student-teacher boundaries."

He was surprised to hear a deep sigh come from beside him. He looked at Al again.

"So that's how it is," Al said.

_That's how what is? _Teddy wondered.

Suddenly, with a ferocity that surprised Teddy, Albus grabbed him by the front of his robes and slammed him against the cold stone. Teddy stared, actually frightened, into the emerald-green eyes of the angry fifth-year.

"You utter git," Al said. "I can't believe you. I thought that maybe somebody who's supposed to be a fucking role model for James would at least accept him for who he is! Your own father was, you know, and you can't accept that maybe your godbrother is, too?"

Teddy's mouth worked like a goldfish. He was twenty-two, but at the moment he felt like a child. "A werewolf?" he said, blankly.

Albus actually rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot. Gay! Gay, gay, gay! James is gay and he may be in love with you, but if you don't feel the same way, don't be a prick about it!"

A smile forced its way across Teddy's face. "Me?"

"You," Al said, loosening his grip on Teddy's robes. "What, you didn't know?"

Teddy shook his head.

"Merlin," Albus said, "and I thought that's what this whole thing was about. Why you didn't come round all this summer." He flattened his bangs with his fingers, a habit picked up by his father. Harry did it to cover up his famous scar; Al did it as a nervous gesture. "So what is this on about, then?"

Teddy slid down the wall, landing with a thump on his backside. "I'm in love with James."

"No," said Al, sitting cross-legged beside Teddy and trying to look surprised.

"Shut up, you prick." Teddy said, shoving him. "I'm baring my soul here."

"Are you?"

"Trying to," Teddy amended. "Can you shut up?"

"No," said Al, standing back up. "You need time to think and start acting your age. And I have Quidditch Practice. You should wallow in your own thoughts for a while. But I'll leave you with some parting words."

Al took a deep breath and pulled Teddy up to standing position. "James is now 17 years old, which means he's of age. You never wanted to work at Hogwarts anyway. Everyone in our family is quite literally placing bets on when you two will get together. Dad has tomorrow's date. And godbrother is just a title- you are in no way related." Al started away, then paused and turned back. "And Dad says that he knows for a fact that your dad would approve."

Al left him, as he promised he would, wallowing in his own thoughts.

He sat in the hall for a good half hour, shell-shocked.

Teddy needed time to think. He pushed open the oak front doors and headed into the crisp September air.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team was practicing on the pitch, Teddy noted. Without his glasses, he could only see streaks of crimson, soaring through the air at impossible heights. It was hard to distinguish individual limbs, let alone the faces of each player.

Yet, he knew exactly which one was James. The one who threw and caught the Quaffle with the most ease, who darted and soared. The bloke could have been any position on the field, but he'd chosen Keeper, the job with much less hoop-la attached to it than the seeker. As much as James seemed like an attention-seeker, the way he played Quidditch said otherwise.

He watched James fly for a moment, then turned his attention to the Whomping Willow.

He'd kept his attention away for far too long, though. Just as he'd turned to look at the tree, a branch swung around, knocking him off his feet.  
He wasn't close enough to the Willow for him to be considered a threat. Later, he'd muse about how odd it was that magical plants could recall something that had threatened them even weeks previously. Teddy had been plucking the Willow's branches. This apparently deserved a beating.  
Within seconds, another branch smashed across his legs, leaving a red slash and a crippling pain in his calves. His legs wouldn't move. As he tried to push himself up, it felt as if flames were licking up and down his legs.

_Kill shot_, he thought as he watched one of the main trunks descend upon him. He closed his eyes. _James, I love you_.

As if this was a call he'd screamed out loud, something slammed into him, knocking him out of the way. He opened his eyes.

James was just a blur of crimson as he was tossed in the air, off his broom. So that was how James had gotten to him so fast. He'd flown.  
James' broomstick landed beside him, hopelessly damaged, the handle bent in half. It was missing half its twigs.

"Oh, Jamie," he whispered helplessly as he watched the boy who had just saved his life tossed into the air like a rag doll. Each branch that cut into James was like a blow to Teddy's heart.

Hitting James, far from lessening the willow's temper, only seemed to increase it. The blows became more frequent, harsher. A branch swung past Teddy and he saw with a sickening twist of his stomach that it was streaked with dark red blood.

His wand. It was in his rucksack, still lying in the hallway of Hogwart's Castle, where he'd been talking to Albus.

Damn it all to fucking hell…

His eyes lighted on the small rocks scattered around his feet.

It took four tries, but on the fourth, a rock hit the knot that froze the tree.

He dragged himself to James, who had fallen with a thump from one of the (thankfully) lower branches of the tree.

His shirt was bloody, and torn. His pants were mangled and his nose looked broken. Blood was covering the side of his head and matting down his hair.

"Oh, James-" Teddy dropped to his knees beside the boy he was in love with.

James' head lolled toward him. "Teddy?" his voice was rough, cracked, and Teddy saw with another jolt the line across James' throat where a branch had cut him.

James' eyes were drifting. "You idiot…" he choked, reaching with his blood-soaked hand to hold Teddy's arm.

"Don't go to sleep, James," Teddy begged, wishing he had his wand on him. He looked around desperately for McGonagall, Hagrid, anyone. How could he get James back to the castle? The branch that had hit him had nearly broken his legs. He couldn't move.

James clutched his hand like a lifeline.

"You're a hero, Jamie," Teddy said.

"It doesn't… matter," James whispered, his chest heaving. "It… doesn't change… how… you feel… about me."

"How I feel?" Teddy said, startled. "James, nothing in the world could change how I feel about you."

James' eyes closed, and a disappointed tear trickled down his cheek.

Teddy let his hand brush against James' cheek, wiping the teardrop away with his knuckles.

James opened his eyes, looking hopeful and also wary, like he might be imagining the whole thing.

"You bloody idiot," Teddy said, softly. "How could you not see it? I love you. I've loved you for ages."

James' eyes slid shut again. "I… must… be… dreaming," he croaked.

Teddy swallowed a lump in his throat. "Never," he said, and pressed his lips to James' forehead.

Footsteps sounded behind him. It was the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"We were in the showers," Lily gasped as she hurried forward, dropping to her knees beside Teddy, and looking down at her brother. "It took a while for us to realize he wasn't with us. What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get him to the hospital wing," Teddy said. "I couldn't walk. The tree hit my legs. And I lost my wand. Can you-?"

But before he could finish asking, Rose had conjured a stretcher. Al and Lily were hoisting their ruined brother onto it. Teddy dragged himself beside the stretcher at half a run while they hurried for the hospital wing. McGonagall intercepted them on the way- Roxanne had gone back to get her. Students pressed their backs against the walls as the stretcher was hurried down the hallway.

Madame Pomfrey's face went as white as a ghost's when she saw them. McGonagall had spent some time healing the lesser injuries on the way, but James was still horribly mangled at their arrival.

Madame Pomfrey spared one glance for Teddy, who was gritting his teeth against his own pain. He was certain he had a broken bone. "Give him something for the pain," she commanded one of her attendants.

The attendant attempted to separate his hand from James', and he felt a wrenching panic take over. He thrashed against her, fully aware that he was acting like a child (which seemed to be happening a lot these days) and not caring in the least.

"Control him!" he thought he heard someone yell, and then something was forced down his throat, and there was blackness.

**A/N: Review and you'll find out what happened sooner... **


	15. James, New Couples and Resignations

**A/N: Wow, you guys are good. Okay, this is the penultimate chapter. **

**So I'm going to be greedy and say I want 100 reviews before I post my last chapter. Because I don't think many people will review the last chapter since they don't have to review to get another chapter :) okay, thanks!**

**Hufflepuff Girl17****: Actually, the second-to-last chapter :) technically last, but then there's the epilogue. **

**Noir Lime Canuto:**** You know, people keep telling me to watch Glee, but I just can't find the time. And thanks, it was an enjoyable chapter to write :) I actually wrote the entire story around Chapter 14. I wrote that chapter first.**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL:**** (response for Chapter 12, 13, and 14) Cliffhangers are fun ;) And it's okay, Madame Pomfrey is a good nurse! After all, she had to heal Remus once a month after the full moon. No problem about the "no computer" thing :D**

**Shadowed Shinobi:**** I know :( I enjoy updating and getting all of your feedback!**

**FrolicWithNicole:**** I love that you love my writing :) I also love that you created an account just to review my writing. I looooove you :D**

**Ellara:**** Teddy's an idiot. So is James. What can I say? They're boys. RED VINES!**

**The-Terrible-Two:**** Coming right up!**

**Padfoot's Blondie:**** Won't that be a little confusing, with all those kids named James in the family? I mean, can you imagine the family reunions? Lol.**

_**James, September 2021**_

James woke up to the sounds of people kissing.

He was lying on his back, and everything felt too heavy. The bright white of the ceiling was blinding.

He turned his head towards the sound and was greeted with the sight of Scorpius Malfoy kissing… Albus.

He blinked, sure that when he did Al would change into Rose. Surely his brain was playing tricks on him. It wouldn't be the first time. No. It was still a Potter and a Malfoy, entwined so tightly together that he couldn't be sure where one ended and the other began. He coughed lightly.

There was a reluctant suction sound, then a pop, and the two broke apart. Al was bright red, but Scorpius looked smug. James raised his eyebrows.

Al rushed to the chair at his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Lousy," James started to say, then stopped, surprised at the throaty tone his already deep voice had taken on.

"Do you remember what happened?" Al asked, anxiously, looking at his brother.

"Teddy was about to get killed because he couldn't move, the stupid git," James croaked. "I flew at him."

"You got whipped by a branch across the throat," Al said. "Your voice box hasn't entirely healed yet. And you'll have a few scars from the bigger cuts. But your bones are all fixed."

James breathed out a sigh. "Is Teddy all right?"

Al smiled faintly. "Yes. He had to leave about a half hour ago. Said he had a class to teach."

"I'm really glad you're okay, James," Scorpius said, sincerely, from behind Albus.

Al turned to him and gave him a kissed him lightly on the mouth. "Can you leave us for a minute?"

Scorpius gave Albus a look that wiped any trace of doubt for Scorpius' feelings for his brother out of James' head. Scorpius Malfoy had _never_ looked at Rose the way he had just looked at Albus. He smiled. "Sure," he said, and left the hospital wing.

Al sat back down next to James' bed. "I talked to Teddy," he said.

James waited for the outburst that would surely follow this statement, cringing back.

"It appears I was wrong," Al said.

James looked up, hardly able to believe his ears.

Al sighed. "Who am I to dictate who you can and cannot love? Teddy isn't our family, and you're of age now. If you truly love him, then I should be happy for you, as your brother."

James felt his eyes fill up and Al looked away respectfully. Embarrassed, James coughed and wiped his eyes. "So, when did you and Scorpius-?"  
Al beamed. James had never seen him look so happy, and knew right away that it didn't matter what Scorpius' dad had done. If anyone could cause that much joy on his brothers' face, then they were good in James' book.

"Funny thing, that," Al said, his face still shining. "Scorpius told me he's fancied me for ages." His face was growing steadily pinker, but he plowed on. "He said he was getting tired of my thick-headedness and Rose was getting tired of hearing him gripe, so they… pretended to be together. To make me jealous." He blushed deeper.

James snorted. "Fancy that. Rose is more perceptive than I thought."

"Not me," Al argued. "I always knew she was too bloody smart for her own good."

James laughed. "I'm happy for you, Al," he said earnestly.

"And I'm happy for you, Jamie," Albus said. "He really is perfect for you."

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It will never happen, Al. But I appreciate that."

"Don't be so sure about that," Al said, in a way that made James open his eyes curiously.

Teddy was standing in the doorway, with a look in his eyes that James couldn't quite decipher.

"I've got to go find Scorpius, make sure he isn't getting himself into trouble," Al said tactfully, pushing himself up off the chair. He brushed against Teddy on the way out the door. James saw them exchange a loaded glance. Teddy limped forward and sat down next to James' bed, taking his hand.

"How are you?"

"I've been better," James said, trying to ignore the shivers that were running down his spine. He turned his head away from Teddy, trying to subtly pull his hand out of Teddy's grip. He would _not _take advantage of his situation as an injuree to touch Teddy.

Something tightened in Teddy's eyes, and he leaned over, gently kissing James on the mouth. Heat flowed into every place they touched. He felt as if he was burning alive- but in a good way, if that was possible. He reached up a hand to touch Teddy's face, reassuring himself that this was actually happening, that it was real, _that Teddy _Lupin was really kissing him. It felt as if his heart was about to pound out of his chest.

Too soon, Teddy pulled away, but rested his forehead against James'. "How about now? How are you?"

"Never better," James whispered. Something seemed to be inflating in his chest, like a balloon, as he leaned up to press his lips to Teddy's. A shocked gasp from the doorway broke the two apart. Minerva McGonagall was standing there, her hand over her mouth. She pointed a shaking finger at them. "Y-y-"

"Minerva, I can explain," said Teddy calmly, standing up and squeezing James' hand before dropping it again. "Before you make any legal accusations, he is 17. His birthday was twelve days ago."

"But you're a-"

"Not anymore. I quit. I put my resignation letter on your desk this morning."

McGonagall looked between James and Teddy. "Well then. You're sure this is what you want?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life," Teddy said, and James' heart glowed.

**A/N: 100 reviews before you get the epilogue!**


	16. Teddy and James, Epilogue

**A/N: Well, finally! *breathes a sigh of relief* it's been a pleasure, all of you. Thank you for helping me complete my first actually semi-lengthy fic. Maybe now I'll be able to stick with all of my future endeavors! Cookies to the most loyal reviewers, who reviewed every chapter. Like Shadowed Shinobi, Noir Lime Canuto, HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL, **

**Reviews:**

**Acrobat Ary: You suck. But I love you. See you tomorrow :D bowling?**

**BOSS Zefron Poster:**** I absolutely LOVE your pen name! So I'm guess you love AVPM too? Well, thank you for the compliment! It's much appreciated :) I hope you enjoy the epilogue as much as you enjoyed the rest of the story!**

**FrolicWithNicole:**** You'll be happy to know that I'm actually working on the Albus/Scorpius story that kind of corresponds to this- it'll only share one or two scenes, like the Whomping Willow scene and the Confession between James and Al (Chapter 3), but it won't be posted until I've finished it, and right now I've just started the first chapter :)**

**Bunni-Boo-695:**** thanks! Here ya go :)**

**Jetsir:**** I'm really glad you liked it, and thanks so much for the constructive criticism! I'm not sure if it's so much that I'm rushing through to get to the romance... more that I simply am crap at writing action stuff. I usually try to avoid it :P**

**Shadowed Shinobi:**** I know I wouldn't ;) but she handled it well, considering. **

**Noir Lime Canuto:**** I'm so glad you've enjoyed it! I could never leave Scorpius and Albus without each other! That would be mean! **

**Padfoot's Blondie:**** Your review about your children answering in quartets literally made me laugh out loud, so thank you. I think it's a brilliant idea.**

**Miss MP:**** Thanks!**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL:**** I had to do SOMETHING to make Scorpius and Al get together!**

**Ellara:**** Thanks! *girlish fangirl squeal***

**This is for people who enjoy a more final happy ending. I think it's rather sappy, but I'm good with sappy so... **

**As always, please review! You people delight me. **

**Disclaimer: for the last time, I don't own Harry Potter. **

_**Epilogue - 3 years later**_

"Hurry up, James, or we'll be late," Teddy said, impatiently, attempting to straighten his tie.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" James nearly fell into the room, having tripped over his own shoelaces. His shirt was untucked, his tie was askew, and his hair was, as usual, untameably messy. But all of these things only made him seem more adorable to Teddy. He shook his head. There was clearly something wrong with him if he thought that the fact that James was twenty and couldn't dress himself was adorable.

Teddy tied James' tie and tucked in his shirt, then kissed him quickly. "Have you got the flowers?"

"Bugger," said James, hopping back into the bedroom of their flat. Teddy sighed and checked his watch, fingering the small metal object that had resided in his pocket for over a month. In another moment, James was out, with a large cardboard box clutched in his arms. "Shall we, then?"

They stepped together into the magically enlarged fireplace of green flames, spiraling away into nothing. In a moment, they landed in the Potter's kitchen fireplace with a thump. Teddy knew James well enough after a lifetime together to grab his elbow to steady him when they landed. Sure enough, James lurched forward and nearly dropped the box.

"We've got the flowers!" Teddy yelled when they stepped out of the fireplace, letting his hand slide from James' elbow to his hand, to entwine fingers with him.

Ginny Potter hurried around the corner. "Oh, thank heavens, Hermione is in a panic."

Teddy laughed. "What has she psyched herself out about this time?"

"She thinks you're not coming, James," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "I swear she's more anxious than the bride."

James and Teddy laughed together. "I'm the best man," James snorted, "I can't exactly skip out on the wedding."

"It's her only daughter," Ginny said, "and she's getting married young. Like your Dad and I. You can't blame her for being like this. I'll be a wreck when Lily marries."

James grinned at his mum. "She's marrying Miles. Aunt Hermione couldn't ask for a better bloke. Beside Teddy, of course, but he's not an option."

Teddy choked a little beside him.

"Do you want to go see Rose?" Ginny asked. "Lily isn't making her feel any better."

"Sure. Ted, could you go pass out the flowers to the bridal party?" James said, squeezing his lover's hand.

"Sure," Teddy said, placing a quick, chaste kiss on James' cheek. "Ginny?"

Ginny was smiling fondly at the two of them as she took Teddy's arm. "Help me calm Hermione down, please, Ted. You're better at it than I am."  
As they walked away, Teddy took one last look over his shoulder and winked at James. It may have been three years since they'd finally sorted out their feelings for each other, but even little things like a wink still sent shivers down James' spine.

"Knock, knock," James called through Rose's door, the first to the right at the top of the staircase.

"Jamie, thank Merlin you're here," Rose called back. "Could you please take the champagne away from Lily? I don't want her drunk before the wedding even starts."

"Are you both decent?"

He heard Lily's slightly tipsy laugh.

"Oh, no," he murmured. Lily was his baby sister and he was supposed to keep her out of trouble. But she always somehow managed to find it.  
He opened the door, and took the bottle of champagne out of his sister's hands. "That's enough for you, Lily," he said, corking it. "You're the maid of honor. Don't screw it up."

Rose turned away from the window and James enveloped her in a hug. "You look beautiful, Ro," he said, holding her at arm's length. She did look lovely. Her hair tumbled in a cascade of red curls down her back, and her white dress had been her mother's- simple, but elegant.

"Your tie is crooked," she said in response, reaching over to straighten the strip of red silk. "Have you talked to Miles?"

"I did yesterday- we had tea." James snorted at the memory. "He was scared out of his wits that you might change your mind."

Rose grinned, clearly relieved. "No cold feet for me."

"None for him, either," James reassured her. "Don't worry."

Rose kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Jamie. Now go find Miles- he probably needs you more than I do. And oh," she added, as an after-thought, "could you maybe get Lily a hangover potion? I think there's some in a cupboard downstairs- Mum keeps it for Dad and our Uncles at New Year's."

James laughed. "Coming right up."

After watching Lily down the potion, he headed a few doors down to Miles' room. He'd only been with him for what seemed like a few minutes when Lily poked her head in. "Ready to go?" she asked.

They stood at the altar together- James as the best man, Fred, Lysander, and Lorcan as groomsmen- and looked out at the seated guests. James could practically hear Miles' heart beating from where he stood. "Cool it," he whispered. "She loves you. She's coming."

Albus, sitting in the front row beside Scorpius, grinned at him. Neither of them were technically a part of the ceremony, but they were so close to Rose that she had reserved spots for them at the bridal table.

As the music started up, each guest rose from their seat.

Dominique was the first down the aisle- glowing with a grace that could only be inherited from her mother. Lucy was next, followed by Roxanne… then Lily. She seemed remarkably composed, her steps not wavering at all, and only wincing once- when the music let out a particularly high trill at the arrival of the bride.

The crowd sighed as one when they caught sight of Rose. She was stunning- even more radiant than Dominique- floating down the aisle. Miles' eyes locked on her and never let go. As the Chief Warlock presiding over the ceremony turned to begin his speech, James' searching eyes caught Teddy's.

Teddy, sitting in the audience, felt the usual thrill, the hum of electricity through his veins, as those hazel eyes smiled at him.

"Will you, Miles Dawson…"

He felt in his pocket, and closed his fingers around the small circle of metal that had been in his pocket for over a month now. Perhaps it was finally time…? He pulled the ring out of his pocket, and held it just so that the light streaming through the windows of the muggle church caught on it and reflected onto James' face.

A bright light flashed into James' eyes. He blinked hard, and saw Teddy. He was holding a small piece of reflective silver in his hand and had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.

Suddenly, James understood, and his throat closed up.

_"Will you?" _Teddy mouthed.

James nodded. _"I will," _he whispered, just as Rose said aloud the same statement. And as Rose and Miles kissed, James held Teddy's gaze, and Harry and Ginny Potter, having watched the exchange from a few seats over, smiled.

**A/N: the end. **

**It's been a wonderful journey with all of you! *mwah!* (the sound of kisses being blown)**


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